Famille Laurent 2016 Saint-Pourcain AOC
Cherries. Vanilla ice cream, light baking spices, nutmeg. Full and furious, ripe saignee. Greasy sour fruit.
The AOC allows Gamay and Pinot Noir for the reds and rose. Producer grows both, and the wine is often listed as a blend. Maybe neither. Or everything. Extremely short maceration, two hours, thirty minutes and seemingly while in the press, keeps this light bright.
The family has about 30 hectares, broken into eight plots across different municipalities. Some with limestone, others crushed granite soils. Both provide excellent drainage, and a challenge for struggling roots. Each parcel is harvested and vinified separately to isolate their characteristics.
The winemakers do everything by hand, natural yeasts, no Malolactic.
“A qualitative rather than a quantitative production so as not to piss the vine”
Technically in the Loire valley, but sitting at the mouth of the river, nearer to Burgundy and Beaujolais, across climates.