Domaine Les Grandes Vignes, "Groslot" 2020

Since the 17th century, the Vaillant family has passed on their home estate &, generation-generation, grown the Domaine in both scope and aspect; long practicing organic and biodynamic and now dually certified, they tend their unheard-of-in-natural-wine vineyard that clocks in at 55 hectares with a fully, year-round-employed team of friends and family to create an enviable range of low-no SO2 Loire classics 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.

100% Grolleau Noir, fermented in whole clusters and bottled unfined, unfiltered, with zero SO2. Fresh, flirty, light-bodied, and dying to be chilled. Burger wine!