Perray-Jouannet 'Les Jardins' Rouge 2020

Breathing new life into his family’s Anjou estate Château de la Saulaie and producing some of the best value bottles we’ve tasted in a long time, Rémi Pivert is building a reputation for exceptional artisanal wines made under the Perray-Jouannet label.

Returning to the Loire Valley in 2018, Rémi has revived this patchwork of quartz and limestone parcels with diligent organic farming and sélection massale – a process of replanting using top-quality cuttings from old vines.

Rémi now farms 19ha of traditional Loire varieties, including Chenin Blanc, Cabernet Franc, Grolleau Noir, and Gamay. Fermented with native yeasts and aged in either stainless steel or barrel for a minimum of year, his wines are bottled without additional sulphites.

From younger vines grown on gravel soils close to the Bonnezeaux appellation, ‘Les Sables’ is a beautifully pure and crystalline expression of Chenin Blanc. The estate’s flagship white – Anjou Blanc – is from a south-facing, quartz vineyard and aged for 15 months in oak barrels: textural and vibrant, it combines spicy fruit with saline minerality. A blend of Cabernet Franc, Gamay, and Grolleau, ‘Les Jardins’ Rouge spends a year in barrel, resulting in brambly fruit layered with tobacco and herbs.

As prices and demand for wines from Anjou’s top domaines grow with each vintage, it is immensely exciting to find bottles from under the radar talent such as Perray-Jouannet which excel in value and drinkability.

60% Cabernet Franc, 25% Gamay, 15% Grolleau. Dark, smoky berries and herbs.