Au Fil du Vin Libre – Introduction

Au Fil du Vin Libre is a natural wine store in the Alsace city of Strasbourg. This is a very serious store with a stellar line up of the stars of the natural wine world.

Walk in here and you will see wines from local luminaries such as Pierre Frick, Audrey and Christian Binner as well as Domaine Patrick Meyer who the owner (see below) sees as one of the purest natural winemakers in the region and one who does not add any sulphites.

From further afield they stock the wines of Domaine de la Cadette in Vezelay who produce the beautiful white and red wines that we import into Australia and which sell very quickly (especially the whites) which Valentin makes with a precision that ensures that the wines are fresh, vibrant and highly drinkable.

He also stocks the wines of Nicolas Vauthier from Irancy who for 10 years worked at the wine bar in Troyes called Les Crieurs de Vins which is one of our favourite bars in France. He then set up in northern Burgundy farming vines in the region around Irancy, Epineuil and Coulanges which sits between Burgundy proper and the Champagne region, an area that is capable of producing some very fine wines. As a side note he also makes some very delicious white wines from local varieties Melon de Bourgogne and Aligoté.

On our many visits here we have often spied wines from another of our producers the very reserved Michel Guignier from Beaujolais who produces some of the best Gamays in that region.

He also sells the wines of another of our producers namely Alice Bouvot from l’Octavin from Arbois in the Jura. It is somewhat difficult to describe her as producing Jura wines (which she does), but she also takes on the Herculean task of driving throughout France picking grapes from other organic producers and bringing the harvests back to Arbois where she turns the harvest into stunning wines.

The stiocks come from more distant places as well with Nicolas Carmarans from the Aveyron, for example. His wines from this region makes perfect use of the amazing Fer Servadou grapes variety to make luscious, delicious and lively red wines.

He also stocks the wines of Axel Prufer from the Languedoc who is a legendary natural winemaker.

Walk into the second room and you will find row after row of boxes stacked four or five high. This is a room groaning under the weight of one of the best selections of natural wine in France.

Now back to the owner, Jean Walch, is both knowledgeable and engaging, but with very definite and strongly-held views about what constitutes a natural wine and one of his most strongly held requirements is that the wine has no added sulphites. He does, however, sell wines that have dded sulphites.

If you are uncertain what to buy, tell him the style of wine that you like and he will be able to suggest wines from his vast collection that should appeal to you.

This is a carefully selected collection of wine and certainly worth visiting if you are in Strasbourg. 

Additional information

Name: Au Fil du Vin Libre

Street: 26, Quai des Bateliers

Suburb: Strasbourg, 67000

Phone: +33 3 88 35 12 09

Opening hours: Mon – Fri 2pm – 7:30pm, Sat 10am – 7:30pm

You can check on their details and read about current wines they are offering on their Web site here.

We have included this important venue in our story about wine bars to visit in France here.