Land of Transmission
Contrasts is a hundred or so natural growers making wines with extremely limited doses of SO2, in line with the standards of the ‘Vin Méthode Nature’ label : 30 mg/l total SO2 for reds and 40 for whites MAX. Et basta!
Taming the Grapes
Thanks to delicate vinification techniques, our grape varieties have been enjoying a new lease of life over the past decade.
The Heroic Basques
There are not many places in France where winemaking is so demanding. The great Basque terroirs will be present at Contrastes!”
Blessed are the crazy ones…
In the Southwest, we are lucky to have old cranks who open the way for lots of extravagances, and it’s often here that you find new paths of exploration.
Indigenous Grape Varieties
In the Southwest, we know how to make godly wines, immortals, princes in short trousers at 20 years of age.
Harvesting by Hand
Harvesting by hand brings a human touch to our wines. It means opening our estates to people we’d probably never meet…
The Contrastes Team likes to Tease
The image attached to us is sometimes hard to shake off, but winemakers from other regions adore us!
Contrastes 2025
The Contrastes Wine Fair 2025 is back…save the date! 9/10 November in Toulouse. Hope to see you there!
The Wines of Southwest France
“The Southwest is the greatest undiscovered wine region of France: a cluster of often remote appellations, many so small that it’s hard for them to make a wave in the market. They export a bit here, they export a bit there, they sell to the locals – and then all the wine is gone, before the world at large has had a chance to wake up and take notice” Andrew Jefford, Wine Scholar Guild, February 2024
Contrastes 2023
80 growers, dozens of local grape varieties, 17 different appellations: Contrastes! is a voyage from Bergerac to the Basque country via and the Aveyron, the Tarn and the Garonne and the Lot to discover pure, authentic wines with a sense of place.