A self-described nomad, Louis Terral left his home town on the Atlantic coast after high school and spent a lot of time in his van, wandering around rural France. In his late 20s, working a nine-to-five factory job, he became restless and hit the road again. A chance encounter with Julie Balagny opened the door to the world of natural winemaking and Louis was soon hooked. After two years alongside Julie, he encountered Beaujolais pioneer Michel Guignier, to whom he attributes most of his training. It was Michel who suggested that Louis flee Beaujolais to seek higher ground with more water, which is what Louis found in Mérignat, his wife's hometown in Bugey, the limestone-rich southern spur of the Jura massif. 

His heartfelt invocation of Masanobu Fukuoka's radical farming philosophy, as uncompromising as it gets, has set him on a path to zero-till and zero-treatment (no bordelaise) viticulture.