Lolita

VISIT IMPORTER'S WEBSITE
Country of Origin: France
Location: Southern Rhône
People: Lolita Sene, Owner & Winemaker
Viticulture: Practicing Organic

Items

Lolita 2020 'Mis en Bec' Blanc, Vin de France Login TFL NR <1 Case
Lolita 2020 'Mise en Bouche' Rouge, Vin de France Login — <1 Case

Before becoming a vigneron, a 20-year-old Lolita Sene had another life as the artistic director for a French nightclub. Inspired to combine her love of partying and science, she returned to school to study agronomy with the ultimate goal of making wine. What she learned about conventional winemaking in school, she soon unlearned, discovering instead the wonderful world of natural wine. After graduating, Lolita got a job as both a cellar hand and a sommelier in the United States. She worked for several years serving and passionately defending natural wine before it became clear that this side of the business would not be enough. She needed to return home and make her own.

Today, Lolita is the owner of a plot of land in the Southern Rhône where she organically grows Grenache, Syrah, and Cinsault. While her production has grown from 1,800 bottles in 2018 to 8,000 in 2020, she is committed to never exceed 10,000 bottles, her motto being "start small, stay small."

Lolita does absolutely everything by hand, from working the vineyard to designing the labels. She utilizes a clique press, lightly crushes by foot, and fills her barrels by bucket. Committed to minimal intervention, Lolita’s wines use only hand-picked grapes, are never fined or filtered, and contain no additions of sulfites.

Social Media:
Instagram: @lolitasene
Facebook: @lolita.sene

Media Links
Amv Journal: New models #5: in the vineyard with Lolita Sène

Reviews

  • Lolita 2020 'Mis en Bec' Blanc, Vin de France
    The Feiring Line
    Rating: NR (2/1/2021)
    Now in her early 30s, this vigneronne works on 1 ha and supplements her needs with grapes from friends. She is very much of the new natural wine scene with the drink-me-now labels, fresh into the bottle, and the Instagram hype. Are the wines that good? The reds I’ve had (this and last vintage) seem problematic, but this cuvée is yes, precocious but vivacious. She acquired the fruit from the nearby Gard. The sauvignon gets the carbonic treatment for a week with some fresh syrah blended in before bottling in November. Landing in my apartment a mere two months later (!) it’s extremely young, a gorgeous apricot colored and flavored, cider-accented rusty reductive wine that is substantive. It opens up with a the texture that is super-drinkable and balanced. I give her A+ for imagination in giving birth to a tasty wine with a gripping and satisfying texture that held up for several days.