The Sculptor & the Parisian
Caroline Connelly and Rémy Kaneko are the couple behind La Ferme du Pasteur — a trained sculptor who restored frescoes across France and his wife, who together ran the hugely popular Chambre Noire wine bar in Paris before taking over family vineyards and olive groves in the Drôme Provençale in 2021. On roughly 2 hectares of old vines in Saint-Maurice-sur-Eygues, near Nyons, they work Grenache Noir, Syrah, and Grenache Blanc on clay-limestone soils covered with rolled pebbles — the same terroir that has produced Côtes du Rhône since 1939. The vines are ancient: 85 years old on the slopes, 25 years old on the terrace above. Their winemaking is absolute — zero sulfur, zero oenological auxiliaries, indigenous yeasts, short maceration, and 6 to 9 months of élevage. The result is a portfolio of honest, direct, and thrillingly fresh wines that taste like the opposite of Parisian polish: Font du Loup, a Grenache of surprising olive-pit depth; Les Cairns, a Syrah-Grenache blend of red-fruit joy; Coquin de Sort, a rosé of salted strawberry brilliance; and Patte Blanche, a white of quiet luminosity. They also make olive oil. And they plan to plant Macabeu, Bourboulenc, and even Xarel·lo — because for a sculptor and a wine-bar owner, the rules were always meant to be bent.
Rémy & Caroline & the Leap from Paris
The story of La Ferme du Pasteur is a story of two people who had already built a life in the city and chose to walk away from it — not out of dissatisfaction, but out of a deeper calling. Rémy Kaneko is a trained sculptor who spent years restoring old frescoes across France. He is not a man who follows conventional paths. His hands have touched centuries-old plaster, and his eye has learned to read the cracks and colours of history. Caroline Connelly is his wife and partner. Together, they became the co-owners of Chambre Noire, one of the most popular and influential natural wine bars in Paris — a dark, intimate room where the city's wine lovers gathered to discover the new wave of French natural wine. For years, they were at the centre of the scene: pouring, tasting, talking, connecting. They knew the wines. They knew the vignerons. They knew the market.
But knowing the wines and making them are different things. And in 2021, Rémy and Caroline made the leap: they left Paris and took over the family vineyards and olive groves in Saint-Maurice-sur-Eygues, a small village in the Drôme Provençale, near the historic town of Nyons. The estate was not large — roughly 2 hectares — but it carried the weight of generations. The vines were old, the soils were classic, and the olive trees were ancient. It was not a blank canvas; it was a living inheritance. And Rémy and Caroline approached it with the same creative intensity that had defined their work in Paris: not as a business opportunity, but as an artistic and agricultural project.
The transition was not easy. Rémy had no formal training in viticulture beyond what he had absorbed at Chambre Noire — years of tasting, talking, and observing. Caroline had the commercial instincts of a successful wine-bar owner. But neither had farmed. Neither had pruned. Neither had made wine from grapes they had grown themselves. They learned by doing. They learned by failing. They learned by listening to the vines and the olive trees and the wind that sweeps through the Drôme valleys. And they learned by refusing to compromise: from the first vintage, they made a decision that would define the estate — zero sulfur, zero oenological auxiliaries, zero additives of any kind. This was not a marketing stance; it was a moral one. If the grapes were healthy, if the cellar was clean, if the intention was pure, then the wine did not need chemistry. It needed time, patience, and respect.
Their first vintage, 2021, was a revelation. The Font du Loup — a Grenache from 85-year-old vines — surprised even them with its depth, its freshness, and its unmistakable note of olive pit, as if the wine had absorbed the character of the groves that surrounded it. The critics noticed. The importers noticed. And the customers who had known Rémy and Caroline from Chambre Noire followed them to the south, buying their wines not out of loyalty but out of genuine excitement. In just a few years, La Ferme du Pasteur has become one of the most talked-about new estates in the Southern Rhône — not because of scale, but because of purity. And because of the story: a sculptor and a wine-bar owner, leaving Paris for the pebbles and the vines, proving that the best wine often comes from the most unexpected hands.
"It honestly tastes ridiculously good and the bright, light and vibrant style reminds us of the wines from Daniel Sage."
— Lieu-Dit
Saint-Maurice-sur-Eygues & the Rolled Pebbles
Saint-Maurice-sur-Eygues is a village in the Drôme department, in the Drôme Provençale region of south-eastern France, roughly 12 kilometres from Nyons, 18 kilometres from Valréas, and 16 kilometres from Vaison-la-Romaine. It sits on the banks of the Eygues River, a tributary of the Rhône, in a landscape of terraced hillsides, olive groves, and vineyards that have been producing wine since antiquity. The village has been an Appellation Village since 1964 — one of the most prestigious designations within the Côtes du Rhône system — and its wines have been made by a cooperative of local growers since 1939. The La Ferme du Pasteur estate is located on the slopes of Saint-Maurice, on a terroir that is quintessentially Southern Rhône: clay-limestone soils covered with rolled pebbles — the same galets roulés that define Châteauneuf-du-Pape and the greatest crus of the region.
The defining geological feature of the estate is the clay-limestone soil with rolled pebbles — a composition that is the signature of the best Southern Rhône terroirs. The clay-limestone provides the mineral backbone, the water retention, and the nutrient richness that old vines need to thrive. The rolled pebbles — large, rounded stones deposited by ancient glaciers and rivers — act as a natural thermal battery: they absorb heat during the day and release it at night, moderating temperature fluctuations and ensuring slow, even ripening. The result is a terroir that produces wines of bright acidity, floral aromatics, and a strong mineral backbone — wines that have the generosity of the Mediterranean sun but the precision of well-drained, stony soil. The old vines — 85 years old on the slopes — have root systems that plunge deep into this clay-limestone, drawing minerals and complexity that young vines cannot reach. The younger vines — 25 years old on the terrace above — bring freshness and vitality to the blends.
The estate is not merely a vineyard; it is a farm — a polyculture of vines, olive groves, and open land that reflects the traditional agriculture of the Drôme Provençale. The olive trees are ancient, producing an oil that is as much a part of the estate's identity as the wine. The surrounding countryside — the Eygues River, the olive groves of Nyons, and the historic Roman town of Vaison-la-Romaine — provides a habitat for biodiversity and a sense of place that is inseparable from the wine. The climate is Mediterranean with continental influence — hot, dry summers, cold winters, and the moderating effect of the Rhône valley. The Mistral — the fierce north wind — sweeps through the vineyards, drying the grapes after rain, preventing disease, and concentrating flavours. The altitude — between 250 and 350 metres — brings a cooling influence that preserves acidity and moderates the heat.
The farming is natural and respectful — no synthetic herbicides, no pesticides, no synthetic fertilisers. Rémy and Caroline work the vines by hand, with the same care and attention that Rémy brought to his fresco restoration. The goal is not maximum yield but maximum health: grapes that carry the full mineral and microbial fingerprint of the Saint-Maurice soils, essential for the zero-additive winemaking that defines the project. The vineyard is not a factory; it is a living landscape of old vines, olive trees, and the quiet rhythm of the seasons. The result is a terroir that produces wines of Mediterranean generosity and mountain precision — wines that have the body and fruit of the south but the acidity and minerality of higher ground. This is the Southern Rhône of the new generation: not the heavy, over-extracted image of the past, but the authentic, natural, and uncompromising Rhône of couples like Caroline and Rémy, who give the Drôme Provençale a modern, zero-sulfur voice rooted in ancient rolled pebbles.
La Ferme du Pasteur is located in Saint-Maurice-sur-Eygues, a village in the Drôme department near Nyons, in the Southern Rhône region of France. The estate comprises approximately 2 hectares of vines and olive groves. Founded in 2021 by Caroline Connelly and Rémy Kaneko. Rémy is a trained sculptor and former co-owner of Chambre Noire wine bar in Paris; Caroline is his wife and partner. Situated on the slopes of Saint-Maurice on clay-limestone soils covered with rolled pebbles, at an altitude of 250–350 metres. The region has been an Appellation Village since 1964. The estate is surrounded by olive groves and the historic towns of Nyons, Valréas, and Vaison-la-Romaine.
The vineyards sit on clay-limestone soils covered with rolled pebbles — the same galets roulés that define the greatest Southern Rhône terroirs. The clay-limestone provides mineral backbone, water retention, and nutrient richness. The rolled pebbles act as a natural thermal battery, absorbing heat by day and releasing it by night, ensuring slow, even ripening. The 85-year-old vines on the slopes have deep root systems that plunge into this soil, drawing minerals and complexity. The 25-year-old vines on the terrace above bring freshness and vitality. A terroir that demands honesty and rewards patience.
Natural, respectful farming practices. No synthetic herbicides, pesticides, or fertilisers. All work done by hand with the same care Rémy brought to his fresco restoration. The estate is a polyculture of vines and olive groves — the olive trees are ancient and produce oil that is as much a part of the estate's identity as the wine. The goal is maximum health — grapes that carry the full mineral and microbial fingerprint of the Saint-Maurice soils, essential for zero-additive winemaking. The vineyard is a living landscape of old vines, olive trees, and the quiet rhythm of the seasons.
In the cellar, everything is done with absolute refusal of oenological auxiliaries. Indigenous yeasts. Short maceration. 6 to 9 months of élevage. Zero sulfur. Zero additives. No fining. No filtration. The wines are not polished into shiny perfection; they are guided with the intuition of a sculptor and the patience of a wine-bar owner. The cellar is not a factory; it is an extension of the farm — a quiet space where Caroline, Rémy, the grapes, and the wild yeasts do the work. The result is wines of honest, direct, and thrilling freshness.
Zero Sulfur & the Absolute Refusal
The guiding philosophy of La Ferme du Pasteur is expressed in three words: purity, refusal, and intuition. Caroline and Rémy are committed to winemaking that completely renounces oenological auxiliaries — not merely sulfur, but every additive, enzyme, and corrective aid that the modern wine industry has come to rely on. This is not a marketing stance; it is a moral and artistic position. As a sculptor, Rémy understands that the material must speak for itself. As a wine-bar owner, Caroline understands that the customer can taste honesty. Together, they have created an estate where the winemaking is as minimal as possible and the results are as vibrant as imaginable. The result is a portfolio that is typified by bright acidity, pure fruit, and a thrilling freshness that has caught the attention of importers and drinkers worldwide.
The methodology is deliberately minimal and fundamentally Southern Rhône — but stripped to its absolute essentials. All grapes are hand-harvested from the 2 hectares of old and young vines, and transported immediately to the cellar. Fermentation is spontaneous — initiated by the indigenous yeasts that live on the grape skins and in the wild air of the Drôme valleys. Caroline and Rémy do not inoculate with cultured yeasts, add enzymes, adjust temperatures aggressively, or force the wine into a predetermined shape. The reds undergo a short maceration — enough to extract colour and flavour without pushing for heavy tannins or over-extraction. The wines are then aged for 6 to 9 months in neutral vessels — old barrels or tanks — that provide micro-oxygenation and slow development without masking the grape's innate character. The wines are neither fined nor filtered, and zero sulfur is added at any stage. This demands absolute cleanliness in the cellar, perfect grape health in the vineyard, and a willingness to accept that each vintage will be slightly different from the next — because each vintage is a conversation between the clay-limestone, the rolled pebbles, the weather, and the wild yeasts, not a product of a recipe.
The cellar is not a technological facility; it is an extension of the farm — a quiet space where Caroline, Rémy, the grapes, and the indigenous yeasts do the work. There is no consultant recommending corrective enzymes, no temperature-controlled tank farm dictating additions, no recipe that overrides the vintage. There is only the couple, the old vines, the neutral vessels, and the patience to let the wine take the time it needs. The result is a portfolio of wines that are honest, spontaneous, and alive — wines that change in the glass, that evolve for years in the bottle, and that carry the unmistakable signature of two people who spent years serving wine in Paris and chose to make it in the Drôme. As one importer noted, their style is "bright, light and vibrant" — a reminder of the wines of Daniel Sage, another sculptor-turned-vigneron who proved that the Southern Rhône can be fresh and precise rather than heavy and over-extracted.
The future of La Ferme du Pasteur is tied to the continued health of their 2 hectares of old vines, the deepening of natural farming practices, and the gradual expansion of the portfolio through new plantings. Caroline and Rémy are eager to go further — they plan to plant Macabeu, Syrah, Bourboulenc, and even Xarel·lo — varieties that are not typical for the Southern Rhône but that reflect their creative, boundary-pushing spirit. The Font du Loup will continue to be the flagship Grenache, the Les Cairns the joyful blend, and the Coquin de Sort the salted-rosé soul of the estate. They do not chase trends; they chase the truth of their land, and they have the patience to let that truth speak in its own voice — a voice that is Parisian-born, Drôme-rooted, and unmistakably zero-sulfur.
Zero Sulfur, Indigenous Yeasts & Short Maceration
The guiding principle of La Ferme du Pasteur is that the wine is made in the vineyard and guided in the cellar — not dictated by additives or consultant recipes. Their approach — natural farming on clay-limestone and rolled pebbles in Saint-Maurice-sur-Eygues, hand harvest, spontaneous fermentation with indigenous yeasts, short maceration, 6 to 9 months of élevage in neutral vessels, and absolute zero sulfur — is not a rejection of the Southern Rhône but a purification of it. The indigenous yeasts capture the microbial fingerprint of the Saint-Maurice terroir. The short maceration preserves the fruit's nobility and freshness. The zero-sulfur policy ensures that the wine speaks with the unvarnished voice of the clay-limestone, the rolled pebbles, the Eygues valley, and the two people who chose to make it. The cellar is not a factory; it is an extension of the farm where Caroline and Rémy provide the intuition, the patience, and the absolute refusal to add what is not needed.
Font du Loup, Les Cairns & the Drôme Portfolio
Caroline Connelly and Rémy Kaneko produce a focused, zero-sulfur portfolio from roughly 2 hectares of old and young vines on clay-limestone and rolled pebble soils in Saint-Maurice-sur-Eygues. The wines are not merely bottles; they are expressions of absolute refusal — each cuvée a reflection of a specific grape variety, a specific soil, and the patient, hands-on work of a sculptor and a wine-bar owner who have absorbed the lessons of Paris and the Drôme and forged something thrillingly honest. The portfolio spans red, white, and rosé, all united by a common foundation: hand-picked grapes, spontaneous fermentation with indigenous yeasts, short maceration, 6 to 9 months of élevage in neutral vessels, and zero sulfur. The names are evocative and local: Font du Loup — the wolf's spring, an 85-year-old Grenache of olive-pit depth and surprising freshness; Les Cairns — the cairns, a Syrah-Grenache blend of red-fruit joy and Mediterranean energy; Coquin de Sort — the cheeky outing, a rosé of salted strawberry brilliance and oxidative charm; Patte Blanche — the white paw, a Grenache Blanc of quiet luminosity; and Sollys — a cuvée that speaks of sun and stone. The portfolio is small but maintains artisanal integrity, and every bottle is a testament to the conviction that the Southern Rhône, when handled with zero sulfur and creative intuition, can produce wines of startling clarity and place.
"It honestly tastes ridiculously good and the bright, light and vibrant style reminds us of the wines from Daniel Sage. The 85-year-old vines are located on the slopes of Saint Maurice on a terroir characterized by clay-limestone soils covered with rolled pebbles typical of the region."
— Lieu-Dit
The Zero-Sulfur Manifesto & the Sculptor's Truth
To understand La Ferme du Pasteur, one must understand that it is not merely a winery; it is a creative project, a zero-sulfur synthesis, and a proof that a sculptor and a wine-bar owner can become the voice of the Drôme. The identity of the project is defined by the couple — Caroline, the wine-bar owner who understood the market from the inside, and Rémy, the sculptor who understood materials from the inside. Two people who ran one of Paris's most popular natural wine bars and chose to leave it for the pebbles and the vines. The identity is also defined by refusal — the refusal to use sulfur, the refusal to use oenological auxiliaries, the refusal to expand beyond what they can manage with their own hands, the refusal to separate the vineyard from the olive grove, and the refusal to treat wine as a commodity rather than an expression of place. The estate is not a monoculture; it is a home. The result is a portfolio of wines that are not merely products but expressions of absolute purity — each bottle a testament to the conviction that wine should be honest, direct, and alive.
The identity is also defined by creativity — the planned plantings of Macabeu, Bourboulenc, and Xarel·lo, varieties that are not typical for the Southern Rhône but that reflect Rémy's sculptor's mind and Caroline's openness to the unexpected. The Font du Loup is not merely a Grenache; it is a Grenache that tastes of olive pit, as if the wine had absorbed the character of the groves. The Coquin de Sort is not merely a rosé; it is a rosé with an oxidative edge, a wine that refuses to be categorised. The wines reflect this intentionality: they are not casual, not rustic, not naive. They are precise, alive, and deeply considered — the product of two disciplines (art and commerce) converging on a hillside of rolled pebbles.
The future of La Ferme du Pasteur is tied to the continued health of their 2 hectares of old and young vines, the deepening of natural farming practices, and the gradual expansion of the portfolio through new plantings. Caroline and Rémy are eager to go further — to explore new varieties, new expressions of the Saint-Maurice terroir, and to obtain ever more precise, fresh, and zero-sulfur expressions from the fruit of their own Drôme soils. The Font du Loup will continue to be the flagship Grenache, the Les Cairns the joyful blend, and the Coquin de Sort the salted-rosé soul of the estate. They do not chase trends; they chase the truth of their land, and they have the patience to let that truth speak in its own voice — a voice that is Parisian-born, Drôme-rooted, and unmistakably zero-sulfur.
In an age of increasing industrialisation in wine — of global varieties, engineered yeasts, and corporate consolidation — La Ferme du Pasteur stands as a compelling alternative, not because it rejects modernity but because it has embraced a deeper modernity: one that values natural farming over chemical convenience, hand harvest over mechanical efficiency, indigenous yeasts over inoculation, short maceration over forced extraction, neutral vessels over new oak intrusion, zero sulfur over cosmetic stability, olive groves over monoculture, the sculptor's intuition over the consultant's recipe, the wine-bar owner's palate over the critic's score, and the specific voice of Saint-Maurice's rolled pebbles over the standardised replication of a global style. Caroline Connelly and Rémy Kaneko are not merely making wine; they are proving that a sculptor and a wine-bar owner can become the voice of the Drôme, that 2 hectares of old vines can produce wines of international recognition, that a wine with zero sulfur and zero additives can possess the most profound identity, and that the simplest philosophy — let the material speak — is often the most profound. From the first vintage in 2021 to the wines of today: all united in one farm, one synthesis, one unanswerable argument for the possibility of authentic, natural, hand-made, passionately honest wine from the rolled-pebble heart of the Southern Rhône.
Rémy Kaneko (trained sculptor, former fresco restorer, former co-owner of Chambre Noire wine bar in Paris) and Caroline Connelly (his wife and partner, former co-owner of Chambre Noire) — a couple who in 2021 left Paris to take over family vineyards and olive groves in Saint-Maurice-sur-Eygues. On 2 hectares of old vines on clay-limestone and rolled pebble soils, they craft wines with zero sulfur, zero oenological auxiliaries, indigenous yeasts, short maceration, and 6 to 9 months of élevage. No fining, no filtration. Planned plantings of Macabeu, Bourboulenc, and Xarel·lo. This is a farm where two creatives found their voice and produce wines of unmistakable purity and Drôme truth.
Four absolute commitments: natural farming on clay-limestone and rolled pebble soils in Saint-Maurice-sur-Eygues, hand harvest, spontaneous fermentation with indigenous yeasts and short maceration, and 6 to 9 months of élevage in neutral vessels with zero sulfur, zero additives, no fining, and no filtration. The wines are as pure and honest as Southern Rhône wine comes — farmed by hand, spontaneously fermented, and bottled with nothing but the unvarnished truth of the grape. A proof that a sculptor and a wine-bar owner, when guided by intuition and zero-sulfur conviction, often produce the purest, most characterful wines. The cellar is not a factory; it is an extension of the farm where Caroline and Rémy provide the patience, the intuition, and the absolute refusal to add what is not needed.