Conservatoire Ampélographique - Cyril Alonso

🍇 Conservatoire Ampélographique – Cyril Alonso

If you like wines with a story, you're going to get on well with Cyril Alonso. His Conservatoire Ampélographique is exactly what the name suggests: a living library of grape varieties, many of them forgotten, overlooked or pushed aside by decades of replanting. Cyril tracks them down, works with them, and bottles them so you can taste what the vineyards of southern France used to offer before everything got tidied up.

📍 Rooted in the South of France

The project takes shape across the Rhône Valley and the wider Mediterranean south, where old parcels still hide gems planted by growers who knew what they were doing. Cyril works hand in hand with vignerons who've kept these plots alive, often on steep slopes or awkward corners nobody bothered to rip out. That's usually where the good stuff hides.

🌱 Terroir with character

Stony soils, clay and limestone, galets roulés warmed by the sun, plus that dry southern wind that keeps the bunches healthy without needing much intervention. The farming is natural, the vinification is gentle, and sulphur is used with a very light hand, if at all. The idea isn't to make a statement, it's to let each variety speak clearly.

🍷 Grapes you won't see every day

Alongside familiar names like Grenache, Syrah, Cinsault and Carignan, you'll come across rarities such as Counoise, Terret, Aubun, Œillade, Clairette and Bourboulenc. Each cuvée is a little exploration: some are juicy and crunchy, others deeper and more savoury, but they all share that fresh, honest, drink-it-now energy.

✨ Why you'll want a bottle

These wines are made in small quantities, with real curiosity and zero pretension. Open one with friends, some charcuterie and a bit of cheese, and you'll see why people who taste them once tend to come back for more. Give a forgotten grape a second chance, you might just find your new favourite.