Les Cigales dans La Fourmilière: Julie and Ivo’s Languedoc partnership
From the newsletter archive. Originally sent 21 July 2026; adapted for the Journal on 29 October 2026.
A meeting worth the wait
Ivo Ferreira’s first email caught our attention because the name and labels were already familiar. After months of correspondence, we finally tasted together at Les Anonymes in the Loire. A visit to Julie Brosselion and Ivo in Montpeyroux followed.
Our July 2026 newsletter introduced a partnership that had developed gradually, with two growers sharing a cellar and discovering how their different experiences could support one another.
Two routes into the same cellar
Originally from Portugal, Ivo spent eight years working as a sommelier in Paris. He later worked with Jean-Marc Brignot in the Jura and at Château Le Puy in Bordeaux.
Julie developed her winemaking experience with Aurélien Petit in Montpeyroux before establishing her own domaine. They began sharing a cellar in 2016 while continuing to make their own wines. Les Cigales dans La Fourmilière grew from that practical collaboration into a shared identity.
Languedoc with freshness
The newsletter described around twelve hectares farmed organically. Their range moved from direct-pressed white wines made from Grenache Noir and Cinsault to skin-contact Muscat Petit Grain and Grenache Blanc, alongside reds of different weights and textures.
Indigenous yeasts, gentle extraction and bottling without fining or filtration were central to the cellar work. Fibreglass, older barrels and large foudres offered different tools for different wines.
The result challenged the expectation that southern French wines must be heavy. Whites brought freshness and salinity; skin-contact wines added layers of texture; reds ranged from lighter expressions such as Marée Basse to more concentrated Carignan and Mourvèdre. The variety of the range gave us plenty of reasons to look more closely at Montpeyroux.
