Neck Plus Ultra 2019

Born in Lyon, Sylvain Bock broke the foundation of his wine path with the 1998 harvest for Yves Cuilleron. He graduated in 2001 with a goal shared by many young oenologists: to choose a certain region in order to produce his own wines. He spent the following ten years cruising the world, from New Zealand to the Rhône (in 2003, for instance he worked for Jean-Michel Stéphan in Côte Rôtie) working and learning actively with other winemakers, all along realizing the importance of making natural wines, until he was quite certain that was the right path, which was in synch with his passion for the “southern freshness” revealed by some wines. Hence, we may affirm that Sylvain did not choose his viticultural fate – he was, instead, chosen by the wines.

And, in the South of France, Sylvain may have asked himself, where will I find the best place to make fresh, lively wines? Where will I be in love with the soils, vegetation, and climate? An excursion through the mountainous region of Ardèche has unfolded his vision, and then he built a strong friendship with Gérard Outric (Domaine du Mazel) and other artisanal winemakers. The appeal was certified by the overwhelming nature of the clay, limestone and basalt soils. And so Ardèche, the magical expanse in the Rhône Valley (the north of the south of France), with its semi-continental climate mixed with Mediterranean influences, has chosen and accepted with enthusiasm its new producer.

In 2010 he started to work on 4 hectares of vineyards conferred to him by Gérard Oustric in Alba-la-Romaine, a piece of land which had been worked organically for 15 years. In 2013 he acquired more 2,5 hectares, this time in Valvignères. Sylvain uses plants, such as horsetail, herb teas, and other green composts to stimulate the microorganisms of the soils. In the cellar, red wines are vinified separately (almost all the time with carbonic maceration), and only after that a decision is taken regarding the kind of wine that is going to be made in each harvest. In turn, white wines are slightly pressured and then endure a free fermentation, a process that may take, in certain cases, several years. Sylvain allows the timing of nature to be free, thus expressing itself in the freshness of the wines, which means to say, in the southern freshness. A sort of freshness, one has to add, totally devoid of sulfites.