Julie et Toby Bainbridge ‘Girl on Fire’ Pétillant Rosé 2021

Location: France, Loire, Anjou

Winemaker: Julie and Toby Bainbridge

Grapes: Grolleau

Soil: Black schist bedrock, Iron and calcium rich, sandy soils

Winemaking: Hand picked and team led by Julie. Méthode Ancestrale. Direct press into fiberglass / stainless tank. Fermented and stabilized over winter. A week before bottling some frozen juice which was separated before fermentation is bottled and added to the wine for its second fermentation.

From the Importer Steven Graf Wine: Toby and Julie are incredible friends who have the most kind and endearing spirit of anyone I know. They are honest, hardworking, winemakers who look at their trade with the patience and serenity of a master craftsman, and the humbleness and tenacity of your neighborhood milkman. Toby's an ex-pat from the UK, and Julie found him working on a harvest crew in Protection, Kansas. After a long courtship they have settled in Anjou with their two young children. In the early 2000s, Toby started working with Didier Chaffardon and the couple made their first wine in 2007, the same year they gave birth to their first son. In 2012, after a few years under the tutelage and employ of René Mosse, Toby and Julie went out on their own and started full-time production on their eponymous domaine. Approximately 6.5 hectares of their 8ha are currently under vine with drought resistant soil, rich in calcium.

Toby and Julie really seem to be settling into their small, family estate, and it's beginning to feel very well oiled. Naturally, extra curricular activities are being worked in. The topic of much conversation and instagramming were Toby's new sheep -- a project he seems quite pleased with. "I've always wanted a passion outside of my profession -- a hobby," he told us, and maybe shepherding is going to be that fit. Of course, the sheep are really just another aspect of the viticulture. The sheep are essentially wooly lawnmowers that trim the herbs between the vines. Otherwise, there are plans for olive trees and fruit trees. All their vineyards are worked organically. They focus on wines for drinking: fresh, bright and natural. In the cellar, macerations are generally short and neutral vessels are always used, whether fiberglass or stainless steel.