Baptiste Cousin, Puppet Nat (2020)

Olivier Cousin has been fighting the good fight for many years in Anjou, and the time has come for him to pass the reins off to his son Baptiste. Starting in 2013, they decided to split off the Gamay and Grolleau production into Baptiste’s hands. Olivier will continue making wine from Cabernet Franc, long his favorite grape to work with, and Baptiste will work the Gamay and Grolleau along with some Chenin Blanc and a little Cabernet Franc from some vines they had previously rented out. The spirit of the winemaking remains the same, work in the vines with horses and biodynamic preparations, and no added sulfur or any other additives ever coming in contact with the wine. They have the same wildness and natural purity unique to Olivier’s wines, but also represent a definite evolution in precisely made natural winemaking.

Returning after several years of hiatus, this punny pet-nat has shape-shifted, from the original Grolleau Gris Rosé to a darker and rounder lightly sparkling red.

Grapes: the current release is a blend of Gamay and Cabernet Franc (previous vintages were made with Grolleau Gris)

Vineyard: clayey-loam & limestone, biodynamically farmed by Baptiste himself.

Vinification Method: the grapes were hand harvested, macerated for 12 days and then pressed. Bottled under crown caps while the primary native fermentation was still going, to keep the CO2 in bottles, as is typical for a pet-nat. Unfined, unfiltered, undisgorged, zero SO2 added.

Personality: lightly fizzy, fruity and round red bubbles.