Benoît Courault ‘Gilbourg’ Blanc NV (2021)

Location: France, Loire, Anjou

Winemaker: Benoît Courault

Grapes: Chenin Blanc

Soil: Ordovicien schistes locally called “schistes gréseux de Saint Georges” with veins of phtanites (a silica-rich sedimentary rock) and quartz

Winemaking: Aged 8 months in oak cask and barrique

From us at M&L: ‘Gilbourg’ is Benoît’s top cuvée of Chenin Blanc; it’s harvested from several plots in Faye d’Anjou. Delicate, rainwater Chenin — orchard fruit, Spring greens. Drink now or cellar for a few years if you have the patience

From the Importer Avant Garde: Benoit Courault is a young and established vigneron in Faye d’Anjou, a little village south of Angers along the Layon river. Not a son of a winemaker, early on, Ben decided to study wine. He went to Beaune. From 2003 until 2006, he worked with the famous vigneron Eric Pfifferling from Domaine L’Anglore in Tavel.

Back to his native Loire, he found 5ha of vineyards and started his estate in 2006. Benoit’s aim is to propose authentic wines of excellent quality produced with a constant concern for the natural balance of life cycles, a statement that you will find on his label “Vignes cultives dans le respect du vivant”.