Fabien Henriot

HIGH FREQUENCY
If you're looking for a change of pace from Hardcore, then Uptempo is your answer. These unique wines offer a distinct experience that will leave you wanting more.

These distinct wines smile at you and pass your mind with high frequency, sending you higher in your energy. These are those moments when you realise there are still great wines coming into the world that make your cells cheer and your heart beat faster. Who are you talking about? About Les Vins du Fab - Fab is Fabien Henriot.

A taciturn personality with abundant imagination, devoid of ego layers and defences and a brilliant mind that almost gives light. As Fab writes INE on the bottles, I see his compassion. It is November 2021. Fab won't let go of me again. Three years later, I succumbed to his fabulous Swiss wines, but Fab also has a second life in the Jura, where indigenous grape varieties fascinate him immensely. Stay tuned.

VOCATION
Born in 1977 and of French descent, Fabien began his career as a sommelier in Switzerland at the star restaurant Pas de l'Ours on the snowy slopes of Crans-Montana. Courchevel, the Côte d'Azur and Gstaad followed later. He learnt a lot there but found it hard to adapt to the unfavourable working hours and intense, disjointed pace in the restaurant world and longed for nature and the outdoors. He opened his eyes forever when he was allowed to help in the vineyards near his parents' house in Haute-Saône during the summer holidays 20of 07. Winemaking was his true vocation. After making a final decision, he obtained a BTS in Beaune in 2009. He simultaneously worked at Domaine Dujac in Morey-Saint-Denis with the Seysses family, where biodynamic apprenticeship is highly valued.

MICRO-CUVÉES
In 2014, he returned to Switzerland to work as a sommelier at La Maison du Prussien in Neuchâtel and to start more wine experiments immediately. A basket bottle of Pinot Noir promises the first 60 bottles. In 2015, Fab scored 700 litres, divided into 30 micro-cuvées. Some cuvées are only 100 litres, others only 25 litres. His very first vinification without any actual technical knowledge dates back to 2002. The big turnaround came in 2017 when captivating winemaker Jean-Daniel Giauque allowed Fabien to make his dream come true at Domaine du Signolet in La Neuveville. A family-run estate on the shores of Lake Biel of less than four hectares, it has earned a reputation in the region for its many grape varieties planted and its 40 or so cuvées, several of which won numerous medals in the 1990s.

DAME-JEANNE
For three years leading up to the 2020 harvest, Fabien meticulously cultivated and harvested healthy grapes under JD's guidance. Often, these were from indigenous grape varieties or rare crossings before he embarked on his micro-vinifications. Each cuvée is produced in minuscule quantities and vinified from start to finish without additives, using only native yeasts, without any clarification or filtration, and without added SO2. The many microcuvées are in stainless steel vats or the maternal roundness of the Dame Jeanne. From grape to bottle, each stage demands Fab's attentive, passionate, and meticulous palate. This meticulousness is sure to reassure and instil confidence in any wine enthusiast.

ARTISTIC
For the artistic labels, Fabien has chosen drawings from the works of his brother Thomas Henriot, who draws with Indian ink and may or may not colour with watercolours. He selects only those drawings that most strongly remind him of the emotion he experiences when tasting a particular wine. The creative names on the bottles evoke the drawing or of tasting the wine but can also represent the location of the plot or the grape variety.

ENERGIE
Like Entre-Deux-Rues whose Sauvignon Blanc and Sémillion refer to the same grapes in the Entre-Deux-Mers, and like Caresse Burgonde refers to Bourgogne because the expression of fruit is typically pinot noir, or like the genius Mac PinGuinch with a whole load of Pinot Gris and its exciting texture, sleeping peacefully until some oxygen escaped and became a bit volatile but is now one of the most engaging and energetic wines.

UNIQUE
There is no doubt. These are unique natural wines of unprecedented class and personality. On the one hand, they are raw with a gossamer edge; on the other, they are complex with captivating elegance, always exciting and asking for more. Bruno Schueller, Patrick Desplats, Pierre Andrey come to mind.

Eagerly awaiting the introduction of Fab's Jura wines, which will soon capture our hearts. While these wines may be hard to obtain, we are confident they will quickly be loved worldwide, creating a sense of anticipation and excitement for the future of Fab's winemaking journey.