Opera Blanc, Jean-Pierre Robinot 2021

For lovers of real wine, the name Jean-Pierre Robinot and his story are legendary. He fell in love with wine at a young age, moved to Paris, met some of the natural wine movements true pioneers and subsequently opened one of the first bars dedicated to such wines in the city, L’Ange Vin and founded France’s premier journal on the topic, ‘Le Rouge et le Blanc’. It was only a matter of time before he could not resist the urge to join the vignerons he so loved and in the early two thousands he left Paris and moved with his wife Noella back to the village where he grew up in the very north of the Loire to do just that.

The Robinots farm a total of seven hectares of land across two appellations, Jasnières and the Coteaux-du-Loir. The vines are planted over a mix of red clay, limestone and silex and are tended organically, with the majority of treatments coming in the form of infusions of wild plants such as nettles and ferns. Parcels are harvested by hand individually and fermentations take place in the labyrinth of ancient limestone caves beneath the vines. They go slow and steady and can often last months, even years. 

Chenin Blanc from twenty five year old vines planted over clay and limestone in Anjou. The grapes were pressed directly, before a short rest in cuve. Bottled young and brimming with energy, this is the most immediate expression of the grape we have tried from the Robinots. Straw yellow in the glass, it draws you in with gentle notes of stone fruits and minerals before a whistle clean finish. A textbook bistro wine that piles on the charm.

Producer Jean-Pierre Robinot

Origin Jasnières, Loire, France

Grapes Chenin Blanc

Vintage 2021

Alcohol 12.5% ABV

Style Medium body natural white

Bottle size 750ml 

Winemaking Manual harvested, direct press, fermented with indigenous yeast, aged for 15 months in oak. Unfiltred and unfined. No added sulphites.

Notes Natural, Organic, Biodynamic