When Julie Brosselin and Ivo Ferreira crossed paths, each had an established pedigree in wine.  Julie was a co-owner of the excellent Languedoc winery Le Petit Domaine.  Ivo, a former sommelier who had learned to make wines with the likes of Jean-Marc Brignot in the Jura and the Amoreau family at Château le Puy, was managing the growing success of his Domaine de l’Escarpolette.  Uniting their destinies, they created Les Cigales dans la Fourmilière in 2016.  Located in the village of Montpeyroux in the Hérault, they bring fun, vivaciousness, and ethereality to the Mediterranean heat of the Languedoc.

Cultivating some 10 hectares of organic vines, and supplementing with purchases from nearby grower friends, Julie and Ivo let their sense of adventure guide their work.  From their white made of Grenache noir to occasional co-ferments of whites and reds, they are never afraid to defy convention in making wines that are typically lighter and fresher than most in the Languedoc.  Julie and Ivo collaborate on certain wines and also make their own cuvées, a meeting of the minds that allows each to retain their individual signature.  In the famous La Fontaine fable, the cicada (cigale) sings all summer while the ant (fourmi) diligently prepares for winter, refusing to share her stores with her fun-loving neighbour when the weather turns cold. Inspired by folk-rock band La Rue Kétanou who sing about the cicadas taking the party to the anthill (fourmilière), the winery’s name is a reminder that through the challenges of daily life it’s important to let go, to make time for song and dance and laughter.  This is just the wine to do it with!   

A note about the beautiful labels on these bottles:  Ivo’s are the work of the artist Marie-Christine Enshaïan whose distinguished career restoring and writing about the work of Picasso and others included being the first woman admitted to calligraphy school in Kyoto when she lived in Japan through the 1970s.  The calligraphies represent vine stocks and escarpolettes, an old French word for a garden swing.  Julie’s are the work of her sister, a graphic designer, while another artist friend designed the labels for their shared wines, for which they wanted something different and playful.