For Peter Wohlleben, in his fabulous book, The Secret Life of Trees , forests are like human communities. We observe parents who help children grow up, neighbors who support each other. Through their roots, trees share nutrients and communicate with each other. All that esoteric? No, the author rather uses the scientific approach to explain his fascinating subject to us.

Thus, our role, in all this natural force, is to intervene as little as possible. We have made the choice of an ecological management of the forest.

In the cellar, we limit our intervention as much as possible. We do not adhere to any school and keep our freedom, including that of questioning our own practices.

Maple products, vinified, have not yet expressed their full potential. We are constantly on the lookout for the perfect product for the table. A product that fuels conversations; which presents itself discreetly between two bites and which creates a harmony impossible otherwise.

Sweet Sével, for example, is an aperitif wine that goes perfectly with foie gras which is four times less sweet than a sweet wine. We love it with well-salted roasted nuts or tapas. It contains sulfites in trace amounts. Maybe they won't have any more one day.

For our Pet'nat, we use selected yeasts but no sulphites. We consider that the sulite is not necessary because the wine is quite acidic and the carbon dioxide protects it from oxidation.

For yeasts, the goal is not to orient the taste as some manufacturers do. The composition of maple sugar is difficult to ferment. To date, the spontaneous fermentation of maple syrups gives mediocre results. Not just a taste of stables, adored by some…

We know the indigenous yeasts of our domain well. They are voracious in the spring, food being scarce at this time of the year for them. They invade our forest in search of sugar. They multiply exponentially in our harvesting basins. We hurry to cook our maple sap in order to concentrate it.

Cooked, these yeasts are excellent. They are responsible for the changes in color and flavor of maple syrups during the same season. During the first flows the nights are cold, sometimes the thermometer drops below -20 degrees. As the season progresses, the warmth helps them multiply. Controlled, they are the expression of a terroir, too many of them, they make the syrup less interesting to consume. We use cold and fast processing to limit the growth of our friends/competitors. When temperatures stay above freezing and the volume of water decreases, we use a very weak solution of Peroxide to sanitize our collection equipment.

Is maple wine from the Ferme du Loup natural? Your turn to judge.