Chef, sommelier (for Noma!), restaurateur, activist, winemakerāAnders Frederik Steen is a busy, creative force whose name is in easy company with the word "iconoclast." Since 2013, heās set his attention to making natural, eclectic wines from the ArdĆØche region in France. He worked with Jean-Marc Brignot, a well-known natural winemaker in the Jura, to create a label called Foxy Foxy Nature Wildlife, and now produces his own wines under his name. He gives his wines sobriquets like "Donāt Throw Trash in the Ocean, Please." They are serious, skillfully made wines, but couldnāt be called conventional in any sense. In this latest endeavor, his many talents have come in handy: that training as a chef has helped inform his winemaking process, which really begins in the vineyard. Yes, many winemakers say their wine begins in the vineyard, but Steen doesnāt even conceptualize his wines until he tastes each variety at harvest. Names, blends, and styles change annually based on the flavors of the yearās produce. He farms 0.6 hectares in ValvignĆØres and buys grapes from Jocelyne and GĆ©rald Oustric (Domaine Le Mazel) in ArdĆØche, plus some from the Bannwarth family in Alsace. All wines macerate and co-ferment spontaneously in outdoor, open-top containers. Andersā wines are made from red grapes, which are either pressed directly or destemmed by hand, and white grapes pressed directly in a beautiful old wooden press. The finished wines are bottled unfiltered, unfined, with zero additions. What you get in the bottle is a thoughtful, original expression of this part of France, as well as an expression of a thoughtful, original personality.
