The Midnight Swim: Raphaël Lambelet's Leap into Lake Wine
On the shores of Lake Neuchâtel, in the old cellar of a Colombier building, a former pastry chef, painter and restaurateur makes natural wines that are wild, romantic and meticulous in equal measure — no pesticides, no inputs, no sulphites so far, whites macerated two weeks, reds up to a month, all movements by gravity, amphorae and old barrels, pét-nats disgorged by hand. The name is the ritual: the midnight swim, a moment of madness, of letting go.
Raphaël Lambelet is a wildly romantic, meticulously creative man who began as a pastry chef and confectioner, left to devote himself to painting, paid the bills as a waiter — and then, fascinated by the restaurant business, opened his first bistro in 2002. Perched atop the mythical Case à Chocs in Neuchâtel, l'Interlope became the laboratory for a cuisine inspired by the visual arts; a few years later he took over the Bain-des-Dames, a fixture of the Neuchâtel gastronomic scene. It was there that his palate truly turned to wine.
In 2010 came the conversion: «The starting point for all this was Mylène Bru's La Bordigue. A red wine. I remember it like it was yesterday!» The elegance and drinkability of Bru's no-input wines sent him searching, tasting, spitting, discovering — and by 2020 he and his friend Franz Hausammann had opened Le Naturiste, one of Neuchâtel's natural-wine cellars. From domaine to salon, Raph tasted countless cuvées, and the desire to make his own juices grew.
The epiphany arrived in 2022/23, vinifying with Jean-Michel Henrioud of Auvernier — pioneer of natural wine in the region and, in Lambelet's words, «the druid of the Littoral», who prepares herbal teas for several estates — alongside Elodie Kuntzer and Benoît de Montmollin. «After all these years of catering, I needed more than a garden at home. Winegrowing was the only option that really resonated with me.» An acquaintance opened the cellar of an old Colombier building; renovation began in the winter of 2023/24, in parallel with the 2023 vintage.
The Place — Colombier & the Littoral
The cave sits in Colombier, in the Three-Lakes country of Neuchâtel, where vines descend toward the lake in a landscape of old buildings, small parcels and summer swimmers. Lambelet gleans his vineyards across the canton — taking the bunches in hand, observing the discreet uniqueness of each vine — anchored in the two grapes typical of the region: Chasselas and Pinot Noir.
Chasselas & Pinot Noir
The twin signatures of the Neuchâtel Littoral: Chasselas of lakeside delicacy, Pinot Noir of pale, fragrant elegance — the grapes that taught the canton to make wine, now taught to ferment alone.
The Hybrids
Sauvignac, Souvignier Gris and Divona join the cellar — disease-resistant crossings that let the vines be farmed with almost nothing, and give the blends their wilder, more perfumed edges.
The Old Building Cellar
The cellar of a venerable Colombier building, renovated over the winter of 2023/24 while the 2023 vintage fermented — an unimaginable stroke of luck, and the workshop where every cuvée still rests.
Member of ASVN
Bain de Minuit is a member of the Association Suisse Vin Nature — its wines certified natural under the ASVN charter: organic or biodynamic grapes, pressed and fermented without any input.
Cellar — Sensual, Natural by Default
Bain de Minuit was born of a sensual approach to viticulture. Treating the vines with respect — no pesticides, no inputs, no sulphites — is a matter of course: the wines are natural «by default». In the cellar it is all about touch: taking the bunches in hand, embracing the amphorae, inhaling the scent of southern earth, letting the rough grain of white ceramics run through your fingers.
The vessels tell half the story. Wines raised in wine jars gain a finesse the winemaker cherishes — in the cellar they come in every type: laid eggs, dolium and Castelnaudary earthenware — and to add a little complexity, most wines finish their maturation in barrel. The whites macerate twelve to fourteen days with some punching down; the reds between a week and a month. Whether white or red, every transfer is made by gravity.
The pét-nats get their own choreography: aged on laths, then placed on spikes so the lees settle, then disgorged to obtain a clear juice. Nothing is filtered; nothing is added — the ban on sulphites is not even formal, they simply have not been necessary at all. «Understanding and having the technique to do exactly what you want,» says the living craftsman, «is the story of a lifetime.»
The Wines — Named for the Night
Every cuvée carries a name from after dark: a starry night, a game of night, a mysterious moon, a splash. The range runs from pure Chasselas and Pinot Noir to aromatic blends of Arvine, Gewurztraminer, Muscat and the hybrids — all vin de pays, all without inputs or sulphites.
Et Pourquoi Pas
The Chasselas — «and why not?»Chasselas macerated on skins for up to two weeks, raised in amphora and finished in barrel — the Littoral's everyday grape turned nocturnal: lake air, citrus zest, white tea.
Nuit Étoilée
The Pinot Noir — starry nightNeuchâtel Pinot Noir, a month at most on skins, moved only by gravity — pale, fragrant and fine, in the canton's great tradition of the grape, with the wilderness left in.
Clapotis & Jeux de Nuit
The splashes — Gamay, and a Pinot Noir–Pinot Gris duetClapotis splashes Gamay across the palate; Jeux de Nuit plays Pinot Noir against Pinot Gris — two wines built for the bistro tables Lambelet once served.
Spectral K Blanc & Mystérieuse Lune
The blends — Arvine, Gewurztraminer, Muscat & the hybridsSpectral K weaves Arvine, Chasselas, Souvignier Gris and Sauvignac; Mystérieuse Lune adds Chardonnay and Muscat to the hybrids — perfumed, experimental, unmistakably nocturnal.
Tapage
The pét-nat — the night's noiseA pétillant naturel of Gewurztraminer, Divona, Chasselas and Muscat, aged on laths, settled on spikes and disgorged by hand — citrus zest, sweet orange and tea leaves under the bubbles. Awarded 90/100 in Vinum.
Legacy — From the Pass to the Parcel
Lambelet's first legacy is a palate trained on two decades of service. From l'Interlope to the Bain-des-Dames, and then behind the counter of Le Naturiste, he tasted Switzerland, France and Alsace dry — until the desire to produce his own juices became a need. That front-of-house past still shapes every bottle: these are emotional wines, made for tables and for bringing people together.
The second legacy is a lineage accepted. Guided by Jean-Michel Henrioud — the druid of the Littoral whose herbal teas serve several estates — and by Elodie Kuntzer and Benoît de Montmollin, Lambelet inherited the natural-wine knowledge of the Neuchâtel lakeside at the moment he needed it. His cellar in Colombier is where that inheritance stops being oral tradition and becomes wine.
And the legacy is discipline inside the madness. The midnight swim is, after all, a common summer ritual — a leap anyone can take, provided the water is known. «Understanding and having the technique to do exactly what you want is the story of a lifetime»: Bain de Minuit's juices are clean, creative and exact — sensual viticulture with its eyes open, under the ASVN charter, into its third vintage.