Beni and the Jets: The wines of Benoit Courault
11/7/18 -
The first time I met Benoit Courault, my hair was wild and desheveled and someone mistook me for him at a wine fair in France. We both had a laugh and I proceeded to taste and chat with him about his wines, vineyards, and philosophy. This was around the same time that I was discovering how remarkable Chenin Blanc on Schiste (schist terroir) can be, so I was very happy to taste all of Beni's Chenins, from various schist plots in the Anjou appellation of the Loire Valley. The reds (especially his 100% Grolleau cuvée) and his elegant Pet-Nat were an added treat!
Since then, I've visited Benoit several times at his home in Faye D'Anjou, and had the chance to see how he works and lives and become a friend in the process. He's a humble guy, who lived in an airstream trailer among his vineyards for upwards of a decade, before finally building a proper home by hand (with the help of a small bulldozer and some friends). His vineyard work is meticulous and tender, with great care and attention given to each parcel. His team seems to consist of him, two friends, and his horses. All vineyard work is without pesticides, herbicides, or chemical fertilizers.. Wines are aged on the lees in old barrels, usually for a year, and bottled by hand (Benoit has a fair amont of vintage equipment, including a fully functional manual bottling apparatus). Most of the vineyards he works are around his home, with the rest scattered closeby. He learned the importance of vineyard work and healthy soils from several winemakers whom he worked with, and hence dedicates most of his time to working his vineyards. The belief, which is common among natural winemakers, is that the most important work is in the vineyard, and should allow the winemaker to be 'hands-off' in the cellar. To the point, he spent over 5 years reviving previously herbicided soils from a small parcel he obtained, before feeling confident that the soils had ample microbial life and healthy root systems to yield quality grapes. Further to the point, we've been trying to reach him to ask a quick question about SO2 levels in today's wines on offer, and of course he's in the vineyard and not answering his phone! (He finally answered: 1mg/l for the whites at racking, 2mg/l for the Tabaneaux, while the Eglantine Pet Nat is zero added).
Though Benoit is not originally from a winemaking family (his father was a horse trader), he wanted to make wine, and so left the Loire Valley to study oenology in Beaune. While studying, he was impressed by the wines of Yvon Metras and Dominique Derain, and was convinced that these were the types of wines he wanted to make. His practical studies led him to the south of France, where he met Eric Pfifferling while working for an estate close to Tavel. He joined Pfifferling for over two years, and then moved back to the Loire Valley. Here he spent some time working and learning with Olivier Cousin, and the Menard family at Domaine des Sablonnettes. Finally, he heard of a small parcel going up for rent and he started his project. Now, more than ten years later, he seems quite content with his life, and is making some remarkable wines!
