Anders Frederik Steen & Anne Bruun Blauert Once I Had A Choice of Being Better 2021
ANDERS FREDERIK STEEN & ANNE BRUUN BLAUERT ONCE I HAD A CHOICE OF BEING BETTER 2021
Ardèche / France
A blend of Chardonnay and Sauvignon Blanc harvested with their friends at Domaine du Mazel in Valvignères. The grapes were picked and pressed together, slowly over a period of four days in an old pressoir before being transferred to barriques for two years. A pretty shade of gold in the glass, it is gently perfumed with stone fruits and flowers, whilst the palate displays the kind of purity and harmony one would expect from long élevage. A wine full of southern charm, so suited to autumn.
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The maverick artist of the Ardèche. For a winemaker, Anders Frederik Steen has an unconventional resumé. Before making wine, Anders was a trained chef who became a sommelier, working at Noma, then the highly acclaimed Relae and finally Manfreds. All iconic restaurants in his native Denmark.
In 2013, Anders moved to the Ardèche in order to make wine full-time. His partner-in-crime was his favourite winemaker and personal hero, the legendary and enigmatic Jura winemaker Jean-Marc Brignot. Together, they produced his first two vintages. In 2015, Jean-Marc Brignot left to focus on a farming life in Sado, Japan whilst Anders remained with his family in the beautiful village of Valvignères to continue making wines.
Anders insists that his wines are made with “grapes and only grapes”. Whilst growing his own, he also sources his grapes from people he trusts, such as the neighbouring Oustric family of Domaine Le Mazel and the Bannwarth family in Alsace.
His daring non-interventionist attitude and experience informs his winemaking in that he does not seek to follow rules or conventions and does not feel the need to do the same thing every year. Instead, as he harvests, he taste the grapes and then begins to imagine the kind of wine he might be able to make.
As every year is different, the expressions of the grapes and terroir are never the same, and thus he adapts his approach accordingly. Names, blends, and styles change annually based on the flavours of the year’s produce. This is why he has never made the same wine twice.
This refreshingly free, creative approach yields wines that are truly one of a kind.