A (new!) natural domaine making unmistakably Mediterranean wines among Provence's sea of rosé – Le Temps des Rêveurs is easily one of the best new names we’ve introduced to the store this year.

If you look at our selection closely, we’re sneakily obsessed with Provence. Earlier this year we dedicated a month of our wine club Leon Circle to the region, pushing past rosè and highlighting the deeply delicious (and diverse) styles there.

It’s our firm belief that the trailblazers – like Trevallon, Hauvette, Simone – are, without exaggeration, some of the most unique and delicious wines in all of France. So, you can imagine our excitement when we tasted Le Temps de Rêveurs, a producer whose first US release just arrived.

It’s the work of Jérôme Maillot, whose family vines sit just east of Aix-en-Provence in the picturesque village of Pourrières. He studied in Toulouse and cut his teeth in Gigondas, then lead estates in Costières de Nîmes. The generations before him sold the family's fruit to the Coopérative in Pourrières, never producing wine themselves – that is, not until Jérôme returned home in 2016.

Jérôme in his vineyard; 📷 via MFW Wine Co

On the edge of (and protected by) the Sainte-Victoire mountain range, the domaine’s dry and windswept disposition is perfect for organic farming. So, when Jérôme returned home he converted the estate's farming and added some small plantings (mostly Carignan Blanc and Noir, as well as Grenache, Cinsault, Mourvèdre, and Ugni Blanc). All alongside cereals, olive groves, peach, fig, and persimmon trees for biodiversity.

The total estate is 6.5ha, primarily vines from the original family plantings plus what he has added. His fresh, crisp fruit can be felt in the final wines, all of which are made as minimally as possible with only a touch of SO2 at bottling.

Jérôme has a penchant for playing with maceration: mixing direct-pressed fruit, pigéage and carbonic maceration, adding grip and texture to the highly gulpable wines below (white, co-ferment and red). What you won’t see? Any rosé ;)

2022 'EN SURFACE' (CARIGNAN BLANC) VDF BLANC $35
From a tiny parcel of Carignan Blanc, fermented two ways then blended: half with two weeks of maceration, and half directly pressed to maintain freshness. A pomaceous, briny wine – delicious!

2022 'SIRENE' VDF ROUGE $32
A delicious co-ferment (Grenache, Mourvedre, Cinsault, Carignan Blanc) that sees a mix of 3-day macerated fruit, direct press juice, and carbonic maceration. Raised in fiber glass and bottled without fining or filtration, and only a touch of sulfur.

2022 'A NOS ETOILES!' (CARIGNAN) VDF ROUGE $32
Organically grown Carignan thats partially whole cluster, goes though carbonic maceration w/ alternating layers with whole bunches. Grippy and deliciously provencal in flavor.