Le Bois Dieu was established by Salma Cassam Chenaï and Frédéric Thiry who in 2015 moved to the commune of Semur-en-Brionnais, an hour west of Macon on the eastern side of the Loire River, to restore an old agricultural estate and work with its plots of old gamay vines. These vines were once part of a 4000 hectare vineyard that was largely abandoned after the phylloxera crisis in a widespread move toward cattle farming in the area. While this has been unfortunate for wine production in Brionnais, the upside is that the area has almost never been exposed to chemicals and the soil is very much intact, resulting in magnificent terroir for producers like Salma and Frédéric to work with. 

Salma and Frédéric met while travelling in Asia and, having moved back to Europe together in 2002, developed a keen interest in natural wines after meeting Pierre Overnoy and other winemakers in the Jura. Wine has always been a great love for Frédéric, whose Burgundian grandfather took him to visit the cellars of some of the great estates at a young age. Salma was born in Madagascar and was first exposed to farming concepts through the production of spices and vanilla, which her brother Yoann now imports to Geneva. Also living in Switzerland for a time, both practising law in the district of Vaud, Salma and Frédéric’s love of Brionnais grew out of a series of weekend trips to Burgundy, and six years after making the move to the area, Le Bois Dieu released their first wines in July 2021. 

In addition to making wines from their own vineyard, Salma and Frédéric also make wine from fruit bought from other friends in the area – primarily from Pierre Boyat. Carbonic and semi-carbonic maceration are used to create more primary-focussed wines in the “sur le fruit” style that the winemakers most enjoy drinking. For this reason, both punch-downs and pump-overs are avoided in favour of a lighter style of extraction. Fermentations and élevage take place in stainless steel, foudre and amphora, depending on the cuveé.