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Batard-Langelier is a family estate located in southeast of Nantes, and extends over 24 hectares, gently sloping at an altitude of about 60 meters, with the influence of oceanic climate.

The Melon de Bourgogne grown on different types of soil - Sandy loam & clay-siliceous soils often derive from metamorphic bedrock in decomposition as Gabbro and Gneiss. The cuvées are parcel selections of the estate to express the finesse, minerality and typicity of each of these soils.

The vineyard is farmed according to the principles of Organic Culture, no synthetic treatments are applied. The winemaking style is traditional, with light pressings, débourbages and fermentations in underground cement vats, typical of the region. Wines are aged on the lees over long durations, adapted to each parcel in order to obtain an optimal expression of the different soils

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While working as a sommelier for upscale restaurants, Jean-Christophe Garnier discovered a contingent of underground, off-the-beaten track vignerons, whose intriguing libations inspired him to pivot into natural winemaking himself.

After studying winemaking in Thouarcé, he then pursued a higher diploma in Montreuil-Bellay, and interned with Mark Angéli of Ferme de la Sansonnière and Pierre Parcé of Domaine de La Rectorie.

In 2002, he began his own domain, commencing with 2.3 hectares of 60-year-old Chenin Blanc vines rooted in schist soils. The vineyard is based in Saint-Lambert-du-Lattay in the Anjou region of the Loire Valley, where Garnier farms organically and strives to make wines as naturally as possible. He also draws on biodynamic principles, as a way to respect and enhance the medley of schist, limestone and marl; carboniferous soil; and Brioverian shale that do his domain.

In the winery, he slowly hand-presses the grapes in a Calvados basket press for one, two, or sometimes three days to produce cider-esque and oxidative-style white wines and deeply hued reds with soft tannins. The spirit and originality of his wines are a reflection of his personality.

This region is somewhat of an epicentre for adventurous winemaking ideas, and is home to a supportive natural winemaker community.

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Sebastien Derviux, better known in the vinous circles as Babass, is a key player in the artisan-wine milieu. Babass was one of the two guys who were behind les Griottes (another iconic natural wine farm from Anjou). Babass and Pat Desplats were among the first rebels in Anjou to schew so2 during the whole vinification. They parted a while ago to each run a smaller vineyard on their own.

In 2011 Babass decided to stand on his own and establish his 2.4 hectares of Cabernet Franc, Grolleau and Chenin Blanc. His wines sum up natural wine for a lot of people – wild but pure and compellingly drinkable.

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From the ages of 20-30, Bruno Dubois had been traveling everywhere in France, exploring the diverse wine regions. He started working in Bandol at La Tour du Bon for six months, another six months at the famous Château Pétrus, and finally after several apprenticeships things stylistically clicked for Dubois in Beaujolais. He was lucky to learn with one of the natural wine pioneers, Marcel Lapierre. Lapierre guided Bruno’s development, and Bruno came to establish himself in the AOP Saumur-Champigny in 2002. He took over a family vineyard located in the AOP but it took lot of work to revive the vineyard and produce wines with the same soul of his Beaujolaise inspirations.

Bruno Dubois made his first vintage in 2002 but the wine was not organic. Step-by-step he has been able fully convert to 100% organic by 2004. And when his vines were vigorous enough, he cut out interventions in the cellar completely. Dubois adopted biodynamic principles and practices on his property soon after. He was not in a hurry to get certifications, so those only came in 2012 for EcoCert and 2015 for Demeter. Today Bruno Dubois runs 3.5 hectares total.

Bruno’s farming focuses on biodiversity. In order to foster life and eliminate unnatural solutions, Dubois: • Set up beehives around his property to foster energy interaction. • Installed perches for birds to flush out caterpillars. • Established shelters for bats to get rid of other harmful insects. • Planted trees and plants around the vineyard to foster a diversity of wildlife.

He also places a premium on the soil with natural ground cover in the vineyard. Bruno never tills very deeply—only in the first centimeters to keep the life in the soil. He uses the biodynamic preparation (500 and 500p) to reinvigorate soils and Preparation 501 (silica) on leaves to improve the photosynthetic activity and promotes ripeness. The copper doses are minimized and are gradually being replaced by herbal teas of horsetail, nettle and other type of leguminous plant. Bruno is on the same page with another Saumur-Champigny visionary, Thierry Germain. Their work in the vineyard is very similar but they do differ in style when working in the cellar. Nevertheless, they work together to promote biodynamic practices in the AOP where only six of the 60 producers are biodynamic.

Obviously, Bruno has always been very close to nature. The philosophy in the vineyard and surrounding ecosystem is to produce healthy, dynamic fruit that show a lot of energy. “When the fruit is healthy,” says Dubois, “then the work in the cellar becomes easier.” The goal in the cellar becomes producing fresh, clean wines with as little human interference as possible: no pumping and being as gentle as possible. He does not add anything except sulfites when necessary to be as true as possible to the fruit and foster the pure expression of the terroir it comes from. He does very few pumpovers, prefers light extraction, and aims for tannins with a mellow suppleness.