Another long and slow press as JCG likes to do it, but this time with Grolleau and Pineau D'Aunis. The Grolleau gives less grit and spice than the Gamay lends in the "Gamay-Aunis" cuvée. Instead it lends a delicious, very pure red fruit profile, almost like the best preserves you could eat in the Loire Valley were transformed into a yummy wine. 9.5% abv!

JC Garnier

Jean-Christophe was a sommelier before deciding to pack it in and actually make the stuff. He studied winemaking in the Loire and after a stage with Marc Angeli bought a few plots of vines and started making his own wine.

He has some 60-year-old and 40-year-old Chenin vines and a bit of Cabernet Franc, Grolleau, Gamay and Pineau d’Aunis. The vines grow on schist, limestone and marl – the distinctive terroir of the Layon valley. It is not just the vineyards that make JCG’s wines so special; his Chenins spend a long time pressing softly so as to extract the juice gently – there can be a delicate oxidative quality that adds to the complexity of these wines.