Domaine Les Grandes Vignes, "Le P'tit Vaillant" 2020

Producer Profile: Since the 17th century, the Vaillant family has passed on their home estate and, generation to generation, grown the Domaine in both scope and aspect; long practicing organic and biodynamic (though now certified), they tend their 55 hectare vineyard with a fully, year-round-employed team to create an enviable range of low to no SO2 wines on the western hills of the Loire Valley, known as the Coteaux du Layon. There is a plethora of soil variety here, not least due to the proximity to the Atlantic – an admixture of soils where sea meets land: gray & green schists, phtanite, quartz, shellfish, sandstone, & loose gravel. The grape varieties are the typical Loire specialties: Chenin for the whites, Cab Franc, Grolleau, Pineau d’Aunis for the reds. The luxury of deep familial roots has allowed Domaine Les Grandes Vignes to be a kind of beacon for what some natural winemakers may aspire toward: a totally transparent project pitched at a larger scale with biodynamic vineyard treatment and minimal cellar intervention. To be simultaneously this big and this hands-off, with experiment and whimsy still at play vintage to vintage, is truly something special.

Vinification: 60% Groslot and 40% Cabernet Franc grown on clay soil. Grapes were hand-harvested, fermented with wild yeasts and aged in underground ceramic vats. Bottled unfined, unfiltered with no SO2. 

Tasting: A simple, versatile bistro red. Medium bodied, slightly vegetal, and bursting with bright black cherries, red currant and raspberries. Serve with a chill.