Maison M or the wild spirit of the summits

Pierre Guigui | 2/17/24, 10:00 AM

As children, Roxane Mengoli and Philippe Bodon walked the steep paths around Valmorel. With their heads still full of memories of the perfumes of their homeland, they set out in 2020 to create a traditional artisan distillery. For the young couple, extracting, condensing and adding value to plants in spirits and liqueurs was an obvious choice.

After a career as a mountain sportsman, Philippe Bodon worked as an ironworker for eight years. For her part, Roxane Mengoli worked in applied art and interior architecture. These two mountain lovers decided to return to Valmorel to set up their own distillery. Over the past three years, their approach has become clearer. They seek to restore the soul of wild plants and fruits harvested in the surrounding area, thanks to the art of stills and also, as they explain, to " a raw material gathered in the wild which offers the advantage of never having seen synthetic chemicals, and which has therefore always been organic". As a logical consequence, they are in the process of formalizing their organic certification.

Far from industrial standards, their production is a veritable digest of the region's flora. Here, the terroir is brought to life in the bottle, with a modern, inspired interpretation. The alcohols are not overpowering, and the sugars are never syrupy. Nothing should betray or mask the raw material. The liqueurs are of great purity, whether elderberry, merise, gentian, walnut or combined, blueberry-verbena, thyme-serpolet. It has to be said that Philippe Bodon spent part of his youth in the kitchen of the family restaurant in Valmorel. Throughout the range, we find beautiful bitters, sometimes with a touch of chlorophyll, and quite often with saltiness, it's lively and invigorating. The digestifs are entitled "Esprit": plum, pear, gentian, dry genepi, black genepi (harvested between 2,800 and 3,600 meters above sea level)...other fine finds complete the range, including a gin, a meadowsweet liqueur... Would you like a sip of mountain air?

Tasting on the fly

Fleurs de sureau (18% alcohol): This aperitif made from wine brandy (produced on site) develops fragrances of lychee, white flowers and gingerbread. It's clean, crisp and even salty, like a sea spray.
Génépi noir (40% alcohol): A digestif made from a rare variety with notes of licorice, caramel, very spicy, prolonged with Sichuan pepper and a beautiful bitterness. Classic genepis contain up to 200g of sugar. Here, we've kept it to 60 g, so as not to betray the spirit of the mountain.
Élixir 45 (45% alcohol): A digestive made, as its name suggests, from roots, leaves and flowers. It's a skilful blend of oregano, marjoram and musk chervil, also known as sweet myrrh, which Philippe Bodon's grandmother used to make him taste on walks... It's a breath of chlorophyll with spicy notes of pear, pepper, citrus zest, verbena and, of course, sweet myrrh.

For further information

Maison M - Mountain Distillery
21-27, rue du Bourg-Morel - 73260 Les Avanchers-Valmorel
www.distillerie-maisonm.fr

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