From Anjou with Love!

THOMAS BOUTIN

FRANCE, LOIRE, ANJOU, ROCHEFORT-SUR-LOIRE, ANGERS

Thomas Boutin started his own winemaking project in 2008, with only 1.8 hectares. In 2011, he inherited a compact winery and vines from his mentor, and has progressively built up the number of hectares. He farms 2 hectares in Rochefort-sur-Loire and 1 hectare in Saint Aubin. He is evolving as a winemaker, and experiments whilst learning and finding his style.

Having studied enology and worked in larger wineries, he is passionate to keep the approach small scale with minimal intervention. All wines are made without any use of chemicals, are unfined and unfiltered and little use of sulfur.

Now finally back in stock: 2018 Charabia, Celsiane and La Quillette. We've had a quick chat with Thomas:
 
"2018 has been difficult but with a good result. We've had loads of rain in June which caused mildew. It stopped in July and the heat allowed us to fight the mildew, which then resulted in a good harvest both quality and quantity wise."

"As for the 2018 cuvees, there were a couple of changes. For example for Charabia, which is normally 100% Chardonnay, I have added 15% of Chenin, to make the wine more round. For La Quillette I have upped the Grolleau percentage from 5% to 20%, to add more peppery and spicy notes. In general what happened was that my yield has generally doubled, it went from 13 hl/ha in 2017 to 30 hl/ha in 2018."

"Each wine has a name for a reason: La Quillette means 'la petite bouteille' - 'the small bottle'. This stands for a wine which is very easy to drink and quick to finish, it is overall a light and fruity wine.”

”La Charabia stands for a person who doesn't make sense when they talk: 'tu fait du Charabia' - 'you are talking nonsense'. As this is again a very easy drinking wine, so 'Charabia' is basically what happens as the end result.
Celsiane is a name of a rare tulip which grows near Coteaux du Layon, and I have chosen this name as a homage to my parents and grandparents who were all working in agriculture, same as me before I started making wines. This particular tulip is also often planted in between the vines of biologically farmed vineyards is order to help cultivate them."

"This year so far we were lucky and we haven't had any frost or mildew. It is looking rather hot already, so I'm planning to harvest around the 23rd/ 24th of August. Which means about 2 weeks earlier than last year. Let's see where this takes us!"

 

Now in Stock

WHITE

2018 Charabia - Chardonnay (85%), Chenin (15%)
Manual harvest. Direct pressing. Vinification with natural yeasts. Aged in vats, on the lees for 10 months. Unfiltered, racked before bottling.

2018 Celsiane - Chenin
Manual harvest. Direct pressing. Vinification with natural yeasts. Aged in vats, on the lees for 11 months. Unfiltered, racked before bottling.


RED

2018 La Quillette - Gamay (60%), Cab Franc (20%) & Grolleau (20%)
Manual harvest. Direct pressing. Vinification with natural yeasts. Whole bunch maceration for 8 days in vats. Separate maceration and vinification for all grape varieties. Aged in vats, on the lees for 9 months. Unfiltered, racked before bottling.