Jeau Grolleau Cab Franc VdF, Julien Delrieu 2021

Julien in 2014 was the driving force behind Les Roches Sèches, a domaine he created with two friends before splitting up in 2017, at which point he set out on his own with 3.5ha of vines around Faveraye-Mâchelles. A kind, sensitive and soft-spoken vigneron with a strong thirst for knowledge: as well as being a bee-keeper (a passion depicted on his labels), he studied winemaking in Dijon, brewed beer with monks in Belgium, made cheese in Italy and researched sake yeasts in Japan! 

Returning to France he chose the Loire for its proximity to Brittany (where he grew up), and worked with two Vouvray growers, Vincent Carême and Sébastien Brunet, before settling down in the black Anjou. Moved by wines from Richard Leroy and Mark Angéli among others and enthralled by the electric quality of chenin on schist, Julien chose the (then) affordable Coteaux du Layon for his first project, Les Roches Sèches, in 2010.

Nowadays Julien rents a barn at the back of a farm, a rudimentary and DIY set up where wild-yeasts fermentations are carried out in fibreglass and oak, and sulphur is kept to a bare minimum if used at all. Planted in 1973 and 1955, his vines are scattered around five lieux-dits and they have been farmed organically for many years; the yields are low giving top-grade grapes which in return produce characterful wines.

This is a blend of two different lieux-dits: Le Jeau a west-facing schist slope overlooking the tiny Lys river, and Saint-Martin on deep gravelly soil with a good proportion of clay. Each variety is vinified separately in fibreglass vats, whole bunches are foot-trodden and ferment for a week with one pigeage a day by hand. Bottled on March 29th without fining or filtration, 20mg/l sulphur added. A delicious spicy and juicy fruit with surprising freshness for the vintage.

Producer   Julien Delrieu

Origin Faveray-Mâchelles, Maine-et-Loire,  France

Grapes 60% Grolleau, 40% Cabernet Franc

Vintage 2021

Alcohol 13% ABV

Style Medium body red

Bottle size 750ml

Winemaking Manual harvest, whole bunch, each variety vinified separately, fermented in fibre glass with indigenous yeast, unfiltred and unfined. Little SO2 added at bottling.

Notes Natural, Organic, Biodynamic