In the quiet, mythic reaches of the Ardèche lives a couple plucked straight from the hamster wheel of twenty-first century life: Léna Perdu and Alexis Robin. After a decade spent working long hours in the film industry, they decided to leave it all behind and respond to the call of the wild. And what better place to relocate than the Ardèche, with its sprawling collection of cliffs and gorges and enchanted forests?

The town of Aubignas, situated in the sprawling and rugged Ardèche landscape, is easy to spot in photos; white stone cottages and ruins stair-step up a gentle hill, like a grand edifice perched in the sky. Surrounding this smear of white is an immense canvas of vegetation, thickets of shrubbery, staunch cypress trees, and rocky hill-faces that bring to mind the rusticity that Ardèche wine-drinkers often picture when these wines first pass their lips.

It is here that Léna and Alexis now dedicate their waking hours to tending to their three hectares of vines with a mixture of pragmatism and whimsy that is uniquely their own. Les Bois Perdus is an amalgam of their family names; in poetic logic, “Robin” evokes “Robin Hood,” which evokes the woods (“les bois”), so it makes sense that their alter egos, Alexis Robin [Hood] and Léna Perdu, would discover themselves in Les Bois Perdus (literally, “the lost woods”).

It is indeed a fairytale of the modern age, a vibrant couple following their passion “pour la terre et ses nectars” (for the earth and its nectars) against all odds. The resulting wines are sincere, vibrant and raw — harking back to a time where you could simply set up shop in a forgotten forest and live from the land. Such a life seems impossible now — but is it? Léna and Alexis beg to differ.

LES BOIS PERDUS

Country: France

Region: Ardèche

Sub-region or Appellation: Aubignas

Winemakers: Léna Perdu & Alexis Robin

Viticulture: Biodynamic, Organic

Terroir: Basalt, limestone, shale, clay

Size: 3 hectares

Website: www.lesboisperdus.com/
Instagram: @lesboisperdus

LES BOIS PERDUS :: Elle Danse

A juicy rosé of direct-pressed Grenache and Cinsault. Red fruit aromas mix with garrigue and a lightly salty finish on the palate.

Vintage: 2022
Grapes: Grenache, Cinsault
Style: Red Wine
ABV: 13.4 %
Region: Ardèche
Sub-Region or Appellation: Aubignas
Viticulture: Biodynamic
Soils: Shale
Yeasts: Indigenous
Vinification: Direct-pressed
Aging: Stainless steel
Fining or Filtering: None
Sulfur: None added

LES BOIS PERDUS :: Elle Tremble

100% Merlot grown on schist in Sallèles. Half destemmed, half direct-pressed. 10 day maceration followed by vinification and elevage in stainless steel cuve.

Vintage: 2021
Grapes: Merlot
Style: Red Wine
ABV: 12.8 %
Region: Ardèche
Sub-Region or Appellation: Aubignas
Viticulture: Biodynamic
Age of Vines:
Soils: Shale
Yeasts: Indigenous
Vinification: 50% destemmed, 10-day maceration in stainless steel.
Aging: Stainless steel
Fining or Filtering: None
Sulfur: None added

LES BOIS PERDUS :: Aphrodite

50% Syrah, 50% Grenache grown on clay-limestone soils in Saint Remèze. Syrah is destemmed and macerated for 15 days in the juice of direct-pressed Grenache. Vinification and elevage in stainless steel cuve.

Vintage: 2021
Grapes: 50% Syrah, 50% Grenache Noir
Style: Red Wine
ABV: 12.5 %
Region: Ardèche
Sub-Region or Appellation: Aubignas
Viticulture: Biodynamic
Age of Vines:
Soils: Clay, limestone
Yeasts: Indigenous
Vinification: Syrah is destemmed and macerates for 15 days in the juice of direct-pressed Grenache Noir.
Aging: Stainless steel
Fining or Filtering: None
Sulfur: None added

LES BOIS PERDUS :: Sonatine

100% Gamay. Maceration in "mille feuilles" for 10 days. Élevage in barrel. A satisfyingly dense gamay with silky tannins and a long finish.

Vintage: 2021
Grapes: Gamay
Style: Red Wine
ABV: 13 %
Region: Ardèche
Sub-Region or Appellation: Aubignas
Viticulture: Biodynamic
Age of Vines:
Soils: Basalt, limestone, shale
Yeasts: Indigenous
Vinification: 10 days of “mille feuille” maceration.
Aging: Barrels
Fining or Filtering: None
Sulfur: None added

LES BOIS PERDUS :: Malotru

80% Carignan, 10% Syrah, 10% Grenache grown on clay-limestone soils in Saint Hilaire d’Ozeilhan. Carignan undergoes 15 day semi-carbonic maceration, with the addition of the direct -pressed juice of Syrah and Grenache in the last 5 days. Vinification and elevage in stainless steel cuve.

Vintage: 2021
Grapes: 80% Carignan, 10% Syrah, 10% Grenache
Style: Red Wine
ABV: 12.8 %
Region: Ardèche
Sub-Region or Appellation: Aubignas
Viticulture: Biodynamic
Age of Vines:
Soils: Clay, limestone
Yeasts: Indigenous
Vinification: Carginan undergoes 15-day carbonic maceration, direct-pressed Syrah and Grenache juice added after ten days.
Aging: Stainless steel
Fining or Filtering: None
Sulfur: None added