La Franchaie Volatiles 2023

La Franchaie Volatiles 2023

La Franchaine
$26.00

Grape: Gamay, Cabernet Franc, Cabernet Sauvignon, Grolleau, Chenin Blanc
Vintage: 2023
Type: Red

This natural red wine is a crunchy field blend combining all the grape varieties grown at the La Franchaie estate in Anjou. The blend co-ferments destemmed gamay, cabernet franc, cabernet sauvignon, grolleau, and a small white portion of chenin blanc. Spontaneous fermentation relies on native vineyard wild yeasts inside neutral stainless steel tanks, avoiding modern extraction adjustments or wood manipulation. It matures in steel and is bottled without filtration or any added sulfur in the cellar.

It pours a ruby hue, releasing fragrant aromatics of wild strawberry, red currant, fresh cherry, and violet petals. On the palate, the light-bodied frame is exceptionally juicy and direct, focusing on an energetic, low-extraction fruit presentation. Subtle notes of ground pepper and limestone earth blend into the fruit core across the fluid mouthfeel. A clean line of natural acidity cuts through the volume, maintaining great freshness. It concludes bone-dry, leaving a light berry trace.

Winery

La Franchaie is the Anjou project of Eric Dubois and his partner Alex, whose first harvest took place in 2018. Eric had previously spent twenty-one years at the historic Clos Cristal in Saumur and later worked at La Coulée de Serrant. When searching for vineyards of their own, the couple wanted land with space for horses and a surrounding landscape broader than vines alone. The parcels they acquired sit beside pasture, oak trees and cereal fields, with shallow alluvial sands and silts over schist.

That agricultural diversity is part of how Eric understands the vineyard’s health. In the cellar, tanks, barrels, amphorae and glass dame-jeannes offer different ways to raise the wines. Grapes are destemmed by hand, and the work avoids pumpovers, punchdowns and stirring. The approach is methodical and unhurried, using observation and gentle movement rather than forceful extraction. Wines such as Séraphin, Volatiles and La Distraite give different views of the Anjou landscape, connected by an experienced grower’s curiosity about the whole path from soil and plant to the finished bottle.