CLAIRE AND FLORENT BEJON
Picrochole 2021
Loire, France
From a single hectare of Cabernet Franc split over two parcels in the village of Lerné, on the left bank of the Vienne between Chinon and Saumur. The vineyards face directly south and the soils are a complex mix of clay, limestone and most notably, a large proportion of silex. The grapes spent three months as whole bunches in cuve, before being pressed off to old casks for a year of élevage. Textured and finessed, here the berries and spice are framed by an intense, stony minerality. Autumn in a glass.
Cabernet Franc
ABOUT THE PRODUCER
From a little cave in the village of Saint-Germain-sur-Vienne, Claire and Florent Bejon quietly go about making some of the best wines in all of the Loire.
Although the two have been growing grapes and making wine for the past two decades, until recent years their production was so small that the wines were almost impossible to find. Florent spent the past few decades travelling around the region helping other vignerons bottle their wines without additives and his work led to him meeting influential figures such as Mark Angeli, who instilled a passion for sustainable agriculture and a search for purity in wine.
Claire and Florent now farm a total of five hectares of vines spread amongst tiny parcels on either bank of the Vienne, just to the west of Chinon. The vines are on average fifty years old and planted over complex and varied soils made up of clay, limestone and a large amount of silex. The majority of the vines are planted with Cabernet Franc, but they also farm a little over half a hectare of Chenin Blanc, producing tiny quantities of what is one of our favourite expressions of the grape.
All work in the vineyard is done organically and by hand. They prefer to let nature find harmony and rarely trim the shoots, flowers and weeds that grow between the vines. The wines are made in an old cellar dug into the tuffeau and here the Bejons display a real lightness of touch, with an emphasis on long, gentle infusions and a proper élevage in a mix of old casks, demijohns and earthenware jars.
Built on a backbone of pristine fruit, their wines are striking in their delicacy, purity and perfume.