2021 Domaine Les Grandes Vignes 'Le P’tit Vaillant'

Region:  Anjou < Loire Valley < France Grapes: Groslot, Cabernet Franc Vineyard/Cellar Stats: Demeter-certified biodynamic farming, claysoil. Grapes were hand-harvested, fermented with wild yeasts and agedin underground ceramic vats. Bottled unfined, unfiltered with no addedSO2; zero-zero; 12% ABVSince the 17th century, the Vaillant family has passed on their homeestate and, generation to generation, grown the Domaine in both scopeand aspect; long practicing organic and biodynamic (though nowcertified), they tend their 55 hectare vineyard with ayear-round-employed team (rare!) to make their lovely low to no SO2wines on the western hills of the Loire Valley, known as the Coteauxdu Layon. There are a bunch of different soil types here, not leastdue to the proximity to the Atlantic – a mashup of soils where seameets land: gray & green schists, phtanite, quartz, shellfish,sandstone, & loose gravel. The grape varieties are the typical Loirespecialties: Chenin for the whites,