2018 Le Picatier ‘Mademoisselle B’ Gamay Côte Roannaise France

Brand new 0/0 Gamay from Côte Roannaise (the under-appreciated, hard-to-classify region in the 'upper' Loire near the Rhone and Beaujolais; confused? Us too...) made by Géraldine and Christophe Pialoux of Le Picatier ("The Picker"). Before settling in Géraldine's native Roannais, she and Christophe met in Burgundy while he was working for Joseph Drouhin, a producer using industrial techniques to grow grapes and make wines. Ultimately in Burgundy they found Dominique Derain and his then protégé Julien Altaber, two pioneers of natural winemaking in the region.

Purchased Gamay fruit from biodynamic neighbor La Chamaille

Mix of sandy/clay and granitic soils - 8-25 year old vines 

Macerated for 2 months whole cluster; after pressing élevage was done entirely in 225 liter barrels for over 30 months due to a tough fermentation