No Control, "HellCider" NV

Hyper-unique, tannic with a touch of RS which rounds out a beautifully broad Auvergne cider whose tech-details courtesy of Steven Graf Imports are as follows:

"The apples are bought in Normandy and sent to Auvergne in big bags. The apples come from an orchard without treatment and eco-grazed by sheep. Once arrived in Auvergne, they are pressed and after a few days of waiting and the creation of the hat, the fermentation starts on its own. I check this fermentation regularly to obtain a cider with great aromatic finesse. Bottling is done at a low density. Fermentation continues in the bottle to create the foam."

On Vincent Marie of No Control, from our September 2020 newsletter:

"Having put Auvergne’s viticultural capabilities on the proverbial map in the early aughts, Patrick Boujou and Pierre Beauger’s wines were those that inspired Vincent Marie of Domaine No Control to move to Auvergne, though more specifically to Volvic. Known internationally for its water, the deeper story of this village is its volcanic history. This humble town whose international renown belies its peaceful, quiet streets finds itself smack in the middle of a chain of volcanic hills, a Unesco World Heritage Site known as the Limagne Fault Tectonic Line. With this history, it comes as no surprise that one of the broadest and deepest lava flows of the Puy de Nugère (whose last eruption was ~10,000 years ago) constitutes an enormous portion of the soil. And indeed, this same dark lava rock makes up much of the town’s and nation’s finest architecture, the material distinct for its ashen hue.

All of this would be irrelevant to the wines of No Control if Vincent Marie were not such a committed winemaker whose project was bound up in a no-compromise transparency of terroir, that is, if the name’s any hint: hands-off, see: No Control. Practicing organic viticulture and applying biodynamic treatments in the vineyard, paired with as little intervention in the cellar as possible, his are wildly delightful wines that bespeak the tug between the peaceable daily life of this place with its violent, volcanic past that is bound up in the earth. Truly one of a kind bottlings that emphasize clarity and respect, that bring you directly into the heart of the heart of things, to look at what has so long been overlooked: this lively, loving core."