Bonhomme, Pierre-Olivier 2021 Vin de France Le Telquel

(We have good stock of the 2021, and more is shipping from France!) This "poil dur" is wagging its tail again in 2021, with the brightness and balance of the old days at 11.5% alcohol, really refreshing and delicious! The wine shows bright plum, raspberry and green apple fruit with a bit of earth and spice. The palate is light and fresh but with nice density of fruit - raspberry, red currant and cherry with bright acidity, quite "gouleyant" - lip smacking and tasty that is, reminding us of the Ducroux Exspectatia...yum! The blend in 2021 is still based on Gamay, with Cabernet Franc, and some Syrah and Grenache from the Roussillon (noted from tasting with Pierre-O in February 2022).

Bonhomme, Pierre-Olivier 2020 Touraine Sauvignon Blanc

Pierre-Olivier has made a simply delicious Touraine Sauvignon Blanc again in 2020 - it's a great value for everyday drinking! The wine shows a pale gold/bronze color with aromas of ripe pear, fig,  lime flower, gingerbread and honeysuckle, really lovely. Dry but with lovely ripe pear and apple on the palate framed in firm acidity, with stone, chalk, saline mineral flavors and candied fruit in the finish. There's a lot of character in this inexpensive wine - enjoy by itself or with any fish, chicken or white meat dish, great with goat cheeses and Asian food, too.

Bonhomme, Pierre-Olivier 2021 Vin de France Vercheny

The 2021 Vercheny is 100% Pinot Noir from 60 year-old vines in the "La Boissiere" vineyard near the village of Blois in the Loire. Hand-harvested grapes are fermented traditionally with stems and raised in neutral barrels for six to eight months. Low or zero addes SO2. The 2021 is delightfully light at only 11% alcohol - it shows a pale red/garnet color and lovely, ethereal aromas of plum, tart cherry, rose petal, spicy citrus and earth. The earthy plum and cherry flavors continue on the palate with spice and minerals, and the finish is wonderfully long and sapid for such a light and refreshing wine. Serve quite cool and enjoy! David Lillie

Bonhomme, Pierre-Olivier 2018 Vin de France "Monsieur" Cab Sauv/Cab Franc

The 2018 Bonhomme "Monsieur" is a bit of a mystery - all we know is that it's a blend of Cabernet Franc and Cabernet Sauvingnon, which shows clearly in the lovely aromas combining cassis, black raspberry and blackberry with floral and citrus hints. The palate is deep and round with ample acidity, with lovely ripe fruits and earth flavors in a nicely balanced frame. This is a quite interesting and food friendly Loire  red - serve a bit cool over the next three to five years.

Bonhomme, Pierre-Olivier 2018 Vin de France La Probiliere

A dark, brooding expression of Gamay! La Probiliere comes partly from old vine Gamay Teinturier meaning the flesh of the grapes is as red as the skins. This makes the wine a deep, opaque inky color leaving a wall of red across the glass in its wake. The nose and palate are equally intense, and yet this also retains all of fun, juicy qualities of a typical Gamay. Notes of pepper-dusted black plum and cassis, a faint whiff of saddle leather and crushed violets on the nose. The palate has a rustic quality with grippy, tongue-coating tannins, but plenty of juice to keep you refreshed. This is a great Gamay to pair with chili or BBQ! Michelle DeWyngaert

Mosse, Agnès & René et Fils 2021 Vin de France Bangarang Grolleau/Gamay

The 2021 Mosse "Bangarang" is 70% Grolleau and 30% Gamay - it's also 100% light and lovely showing a very bright red/garnet color and subtle aromas of raspberry, cherry, violet, citrus and earth. The palate is remarkaly refreshing with earthy berry fruits, mineral flavors and crisp acidity - serve very cool with any casual meal, just delicious!

Come Isambert 2015 Saumur-Champigny 'Cristal Clos(ed)'

The Clos Cristal is a historic estate in Saumur-Champigny, originally owned by a rather eccentric man named Antoine Cristal. A textile merchant by trade, he was an avid wine-lover and wanted to create a domaine in the Loire Valley to produce exceptional Cabernet Franc wines. The Clos was formed in the late 1890s, and is a true enclosed vineyard with limestone walls. Cristal even planned the walls to have holes so that the stalks of the vines grew on the north side and were then trained through the walls with the foliage on the warmer south side. Now owned by a large wine co-op, and boasting a very flashy new website, the previous winemakers were basically a motley crew of local hippies led by a skilled and humble vigneron named Côme Isambert, working with manager Eric Dubois. Francois Saint-Lo was involved with the winemaking as well... in fact it's hard to tell who exactly was running the show, but that was part of the appeal. In many ways a collective effort, the 2015 was the last vintage before the new owners took over. The style here is unmistakably "natural," but the clincher is that the fruit is from very old vines on classic limestone soils, and there's a bit of bottle age. For fans of fine Cabernet Franc more than it is for fans of "chillable reds" or "cool natty wines," if that makes any sense.  -EL

Come Isambert 2015 Saumur-Champigny 'Cristal Clos(ed)' 1.5L Mag

Bejon 2020 Vin de France Picrochole

The Picrochole lieu-dit is named after a Rabelais character from the novel La vie de Gargantua et de Pantagruel  (Rabelais is originally from the area). It consists of 60 ares of Cabernet Franc and 40 ares of Chenin that are around 30 years old. L ocated on the left bank of the Vienne between Chinon and Saumur, the soils here are heavy clay and limestone with a strong presence of flint and exposed full south. The 2020 Picrochole shows aromas of crushed strawberry and black raspberry, with floral hints, earth and mint. The palate is medium-bodied with intense mineral flavors vying with the red and black fruits, with firm acidity and a dense chalky texture. As with the 2020 Saint Germain, this needs some time open or some time in the cellar and cries out for a hearty meal.

Bejon 2020 Vin de France Saint Germain

The 2020 Bejon is 100% Cabernet Franc grown on sandy soils over limestone in the village of Saint Germain, just west of Chinon. The grapes macerate whole-cluster, saturated with carbonic gas in 50hl tanks for long periods of infusion, elevage then occurs in old barrels and, as of 2020, grès amphoras.  The wine shows a dark red/black color with intriguing aromas of crushed berries, earth, violet and mint. The palate is medium bodied, quite dense and very mineral with black raspberry and red currant fruit, and finishes on earth and minerals that linger on the palate. This will benefit from decanting or a few years in the bottle - it's a real Cab Franc of terroir that will please lovers of natural wines!