Description
Region: Loire
Grape: Chenin Blanc
Vineyard Size: 5 hectares
Soil: red clay, flint
Average Age of Vines: 25-50 years
Farming: organic
Harvest: by hand
Winemaking: fermentation in oak with indigenous yeasts
Aging: 14 months on lees
Fining: none
Filtration: none
Added SO2: none
Jean-Pierre first discovered his love of wine when he was 22 years old with a bottle of Cheval Blanc 1964 and from that moment on he became incredibly passionate, even obsessive about wine. In the late 1980s, Jean-Pierre met Jules Chauvet and Marcel Lapierre which offered him a moment of wine revelation.
Soon after, he opened L'Ange Vin, which became one of Paris’ first natural wine bars. He then went on to create the magazine “Le Rouge et Blanc” with critic Michel Bettane in his early 30’s. “Le Rouge et Blanc” has become an internationally renowned, "bible" of information on natural wine growers in France.
After 12 years of running the wine bar and the magazine, Jean-Pierre decided that the only way to truly understand natural wine was to begin making it himself. In 2001, he started his own winery in Chahaignes, his native village in the Loire. He quickly began to acquire plots of land surrounding his home and planting vines of Pineau d'Aunis, Chenin Blanc and Gamay. Fermentation is a major focus and curiousity for Robinot, resulting in five different caves each holding wine in unique stages of the process.
The labels are frequently his or his daughter's paintings or manipulated photographs, and are always identifiable as Robinot’s.
He currently makes two different wines that are both made without sulphur or any other interventions. Domaine de L'Ange Vin wines are made from grapes grown in his own vineyards, and Opera du Vin wines that are made from the grapes he purchases from nearby vignerons.
