Andréa Calek & Stéfana Nicolescu

There are wines and winemakers that come with a buzz around them. Stories and whispers surround them like a game of telephone until you end up with either folklore or upside down storylines to check a box that never really existed. Calek is one such winemaker.

As a Czech ex-pat, ex paratrooper and notorious rebel, Andréa fled his home country to escape military service in the late 80’s during the Velvet Revolution. Fleeing through France on his way to Brazil, Andréa came in contact with the wines and producers of the Gang of Four; Lapierre, Thevenet, Foillard and Breton. Or at least lore has it.

Either way, Andréa began working with Guy Breton to discover and nurture the sensibility of what it means to “allow the vines to speak for themselves.”

Passing this and other philosophy’s from mentors such as Gérald Oustric, Andréa has now passed most, if not all winemaking practices to his partner, Chicago native Stéfana Nicolescu. Between the two of them these anti-fascist, pro-community, dare I say radical bad asses have long been rocking the boat while making some of the most direct, honest and immediate wines in the Ardèche.