The name means "The Tightrope Walkers," and it fits. Les Equilibristes is not a single estate but a living collective of eight growers spread across France, each balancing their individual terroir against a shared philosophy that prizes honesty over manipulation. Founded in 2015 by Parisian wine merchant Francois de Monval and winemaker-director Florent Girou, the project grew from a simple conviction: that the most interesting French wines were already being made in unlikely corners of the country, and that a collective could amplify them.
The Collective
The eight member winemakers include Daniel Macault and Benoit Brazilier in the Loire, Etienne Besancenot in the Aude, Pierre Pages in the Languedoc, Gilles Bonnefoy in Auvergne, Ingrid Nueil in Vaucluse, Thomas Blard in Savoie, and Florent Girou himself in the Dordogne. Each works their own land, but all operate under shared standards: organic viticulture at minimum, indigenous yeasts only, no corrective additions in the cellar, and sulfur levels kept below 35 ppm.
Farming and Winemaking
Across all sites, the collective favors mass selection over commercial clones, encourages soil tillage and biodynamic preparations where possible, and insists on hand harvesting. In the cellar, wines ferment spontaneously in neutral vessels, whether old barrels, concrete, or fiberglass, and are bottled without fining or filtration. The grape palette is deliberately wide, spanning Chenin Blanc, Pineau d'Aunis, Grolleau, Picpoul, Carignan, Jacquere, Altesse, Gamay, Grenache, Syrah, and Cabernet Franc, among others.
The Wines
Releases include the Hirsute range from the Perigord, a Picpoul de Pinet grown on calcareous clay near the coast, and the Borboyon and Seres bottlings from the Loire. The portfolio spans still whites, reds, and sparkling wines, all expressing the distinct geology of each member's home. The unifying thread is restraint: wines that taste like somewhere, made by people unwilling to sand down the edges.
