2013 Cédric Garreau Gar’O’Vin Anjou Rouge

Region: Anjou < Loire Valley < France
Grapes: Cab Franc
Vineyard/Cellar Stats: Organic farming; 80 year-old vines on rocky shale soils; 3 weeks of maceration, aged 1 year in old barrel; bottled unfined/unfiltered with ZERO added SO2; 12% ABV; 333 cases
Winemaker: Cédric Garreau

Cédric Garreau grew up around vines (his dad was a vineyard manager), so he caught the bug early.  After enology school in Bordeaux he dove right in, starting his tiny label, Gar’O’Vins, for which he farms organically with super low yields, de-stems, vinifies in an old-school stone barn with native yeasts, ages the wine in used barrels and bottles unfined/unfiltered with absolutely nothing added. Sounds simple, and maybe familiar, as all the producers we love at Rock Juice work in roughly this same manner, but ending up with wine this clean, pure and drinkable is hard to do. Many well-intentioned natural producers have tried and failed. But Cédric’s Anjou Rouge is delicious, true to the terroir, has enough bottle age for everything to come together (yet could still age 5-8 years), and priced for everyday drinking. It’s got the typical earthiness of Cab Franc, with elegant tannins, freshness, black fruit and some wild floral notes that keep you coming back for more. Without a hint of funk that sometimes accompanies zero-sulfite wine. Stock up, this is the end of an excellent vintage.