Joli Vin imports

Wines & Producers

In selecting producers for the Joli Vin portfolio the starting place is invariably the vineyards. After all the winemakers who animate this catalog are all farmers, without exception, who tend their vines throughout the year and grow the fruit used in their production. Therefore it is reasonable that much of the conversation revolves around the physical work that takes place well before grapes arrive at the cellar door: the careful pruning that goes on during the winter months to keep yields low; the turning of topsoil to bring oxygen into the ground and encourage roots to extend further into the subsoil for nutrients; the bud thinning during the growing season to further reduce yields; the training of the leaf canopy to provide for maximum aeration and healthy fruit. On and on goes the unglamorous but necessary work in service of exceptional wines.

Furthermore, all of the producers you will read about, to one degree or another, are engaged in the production of grapes in harmony with the surrounding biodynamic landscape. Whether certified organic, biodynamic or practicing what has become to be known as lutte raisonnée, “the reasoned struggle,” effectively creating a fertilizer, pesticide and herbicide-free zone in favor of allowing the various organic actors in the vineyard to compete against one another with minimal intervention, are all passionate in their commitment to intelligent stewardship of their land. Not only have they found this to be the most sensible and sustainable way to farm, but moreover, in pursuit of wines with true character and soul, they have found that vineyard ecosystems not destroyed by the sustained use chemical treatments, give their wines the greatest expression of terroir, authenticity and sense of place from whence they come. These are the producers with whom Joli Vin chooses to work.

These are the philosophical underpinnings which unite all of the producers in this portfolio and the bottles of wine, the truest expression of and the greatest measure of their success. Some may come from hallowed grounds of Burgundy and others from some lesser known corners of the French countryside. But whether from the green, westward facing hills of the Jura in eastern France, or the hot and windy stretches of dry land in Minervois and Roussillon edging toward Spain, the wines they produce all express themselves with transparency, energy, tension and freshness. Without exception, they are all exemplars of restraint and a more delicate hand in their winemaking practices, certainly when it pertains to extraction and the application of new wood during the ageing process. The winemakers you will find here create wines which inspire and excite the senses, not dull them, and ultimately craft wines, not of brute strength, but rather of exquisite balance and grand finesse.

As a distributor in the San Francisco Bay Area, Joli Vin is honored to represent these hard working vignerons before a discriminating audience in northern California. Joli Vin looks seriously upon the task of representing these artisans, the land and the work itself which all participate in a dynamic conversation in the creation of these wines. We look forward to our clients learning about these producers and discovering the same pleasures and rewards in these bottles as we have found in finding and bringing them to your table.