The Czech Punk of Ardèche
In Alba-la-Romaine, where the Rhône meets the Ardèche, Andrea Calek—a former Czech paratrooper who fled to avoid military service—crafts wild, essential natural wines from 5 hectares. No sulfur, no additives, just pure expression. He lives in a trailer, smokes constantly, and produces 40,000 bottles of Ardèche's most distinctive juice.
From Prague to the Iron Curtain
Andrea Calek was born in Czechoslovakia (now the Czech Republic), where he served as a paratrooper in the military. When the Iron Curtain fell at the end of the 1980s, he saw his opportunity to escape—and took it. He arrived in France for the first time in the late 1980s, a young man seeking freedom from compulsory service, and fell in love with a country "where good wine flows."
He would do anything to return and settle there. And he did. Stumbling upon the "Gang of Four" in Beaujolais—the legendary natural winemakers including Marcel Lapierre and Guy Breton—Andrea found his calling. Their work inspired him to pursue organic and biodynamic agriculture. He studied oenology in Carpentras and Lyon, then apprenticed with the Rohel brothers in the Rhône, Dominique Hauvette in Baux de Provence (where he assisted in converting the domain to biodynamics), and finally with Gérald Oustric—the "pope" of Ardèche natural wine—at Domaine du Mazel.
"He was traveling through France, eventually planning to make his way to Brazil, when he met a girl and decided to stay. The relationship faded, but Calek had begun working in olive tree vineyards, and soon became curious about making wine."
— Eater
Alba-la-Romaine & Stephana
In 2007, Andrea bought 5 hectares of vineyards from the Oustric family and established his estate in Alba-la-Romaine, 10 kilometers east of Montélimar in the heart of the Ardèche. This is Valvignères country—the favorite land of natural winemakers like Anders Frederik Steen, Sylvain Bock, and Oustric himself—but Andrea chose a neighboring hill, creating his own domain on clay-limestone soils perfect for Syrah, Grenache, and Merlot.
In 2016, he was joined by his partner Stephana Nicolescu, and together they tend the vines by hand, everything done without chemicals or compromise. The vineyards are worked organically and biodynamically, though Andrea doesn't bother with certification—he's too busy making wine. The estate sits in a landscape of garrigue and forest, where the Mediterranean influence meets continental extremes.
Alba-la-Romaine, 10km east of Montélimar, Ardèche. Clay-limestone soils, garrigue, forested hills. Mediterranean climate with continental extremes—hot days, cool nights. The Ardèche is red wine country, but Andrea also produces rare whites of remarkable freshness.
Rohel brothers (Rhône), Dominique Hauvette (Baux de Provence), Gérald Oustric (Domaine du Mazel, Ardèche). The "Gang of Four" in Beaujolais as philosophical inspiration. A journey from Czech paratrooper to French natural winemaker through pure determination.
Hyper-Natural, No Sulfites
Andrea is an adept of the "hyper-natural"—an extremist even by natural wine standards. No additives, no sulfites, no artifice. He favors carbonic maceration (if it doesn't "mask the terroir and typicity") and short maturation periods for wines meant to drink young—like a nouveau, but with depth. Other cuvées see barrel aging to develop complexity for cellaring.
The red grapes are fermented whole-cluster in plastic vats—stems and all—then aged variously in stainless steel, used Burgundy barrels, or tank depending on the cuvée. For his white "Blanc," Chardonnay and Viognier are fermented separately in three-year-old Burgundy barrels for two years, creating an erotic, lush wine with white flowers and beeswax. All wines are bottled unfiltered, unfined, and completely sulfur-free.
Massal Selection
Andrea practices massal selection for his Viognier—choosing the "most interesting" vines based on grape quality, then snipping budwood to propagate new plants. This enhances genetic diversity and yields more disease-resistant vines. It's meticulous, thoughtful work from a man who claims to be "very lazy" and who "doesn't like work."
The Lazy Bum & the Trailer
Andrea Calek has cultivated an image: the mohawk, the smoking, the aloofness, the trailer he lives in next to his vineyards. He tells interviewers, "I am very lazy. I don't like work." But this is facade. Behind the punk veneer is a studious winemaker who studied natural and biodynamic oenology for two years, consulted for Beaujolais producers for three years, and takes the utmost care in both vineyard and kitchen.
He is a globetrotter when not making wine—trekking through Thailand for a month, then archaeological digs and jungles in Peru for two months. He learned to make curry in Thailand and now crafts "French fusion curry" in his trailer kitchen (toaster oven and cold smoker required). He kills whole pigs himself, turning them into sausage, paté, and chorizo, smoked in his cold smoker alongside duck breast—perfect pairings for his wines. So is Calek lazy? Hardly. He's selective about when to roll up his sleeves and when to let nature run its course.
"While those traits are all true, behind Calek's veneer of cool is a studious winemaker and an innately curious person fascinated by ancient Incan ruins and whole hog charcuterie."
— Eater
The Andrea Calek Range
All wines are organically/biodynamically grown, hand-harvested, fermented with indigenous yeasts, and bottled without sulfur, filtration, or fining. Andrea produces about 40,000 bottles annually divided among four reds and one white (plus the occasional special cuvée). Each is unique—ranging from soft and sultry to robust and structured.