Raphael Baissas

Raphael Baissas is the very definition of a free spirit. This thirty-something native of Perpignan, born to a wine merchant father and an artist mother, did a fair bit of wandering before he stumbled onto the vineyard path. As a lover of graffiti and techno, Raph was first drawn to the city life of concerts, cinema and computers, and even landed a job at Apple... But in 2014, the call of nature prevailed – he moved to Calce, apprenticed under the natural winemaker Jean-Philippe Padié, and took over a small plot of family vines in Lledoner Pelut... and vamos! Raph was off, once again carving his own path. One need only look at his approach to blending and vinification to understand that Raph doesn't care about conventions. And the result in the glass is huge – wines you feel in your guts and your heart. To top it off, Raph now also makes special collaborative cuvées with winemaker Oscar Mancillas, released under the label “Vandal Wine”. Yet another evocative name for a vigneron who defies classification.