A cuvée from old gamay vines planted on schist. Crunchy red and black fruit with rustic purity and lift from well-balanced acidity.

Babass

The man behind Les Vignes de Babass is Sebastien Dervieux but people know him as Babass. Babass is something of a legend in the natural wine world. He was initially a musician but now he is making wines in Beaulieu-sur-Layon just south of Angers, near where the Layon river flows into the Loire. He started as a winemaker in 2000 for Les Griottes along with Patrick Desplats. The two of them were rebels in Anjou, as they skipped sulfites during the whole vinification. Babass now makes his own wines from Chenin, Cabernet Franc, and Grolleau vines planted in 1956. His wines sum up natural wine for a lot of people – wild but pure and compellingly drinkable.

Babass, along with Jean-Christophe Garnier, organizes the salon Les Vins Anonymes in Angers. Les Vins Anonymes is a gathering of similarly-minded artisan vignerons making wine without sulfites and working naturally all along, including in the vineyard.