domaine bobinet echalier saumur-champigny 2014

the bobinet estate has existed since 2002, when sébastien took over the vines (1.8ha) and the cellar from his maternal grandparents. he is the 7th generation of a family of winegrowers from dampierre-sur-loire (a commune associated with saumur). the choice of organic farming was quickly made, as well as "natural" vinification, i.e. without chemical inputs during the wine-making process, notably under the influence of olivier cousin, a winemaker in anjou. sébastien cultivates 1.5 ha of cabernet franc and 0.30 ha of chenin, harvests the grapes by hand, and then vinifies and ages his wines in the tufa cellar dug into the saumur hillside. these wines are then the amatéus bobi and echalier cuvées. in 2007, interested in carbonic maceration, he met bernard pontonnier who helped him to better understand this method of winemaking, having learned from jules chauvet, marcel lapierre, jean foillard and many others, when he was a bistrotier in paris. he was also one of the first to promote natural wine. with the grapes from a small plot of land, sébastien and bernard created the greta carbo cuvée together. then came the time to grow and diversify: sébastien took over 2h of cabernet franc in 2010 and decided to vinify pineau d'aunis, gamay and côt grapes to experiment with other varieties. du rififi à beaulieu was born! in 2011, he is joined by his partner emeline calvez, a sommelier by training. together they create the ruben cuvée, from the new plots taken over in 2010. their collaboration gives a new dimension to the estate, which continues to grow and assert itself, with a constant concern to stay the course of a sustainable and ethical activity. the hanami and then piak! vintages then appeared. in 2015, the two of them acquired a building which they completely renovated to make a real storage area, offices and a tasting and sales area. resulting from a pellicular maceration, echalier is bottled after 2 years of ageing. it is a wine of a very beautiful complexity: its structure is dense and velvety, its mouth is voluminous and tense, its aromatic palette is magnificently balanced between ripe fruits, spices and notes of undergrowth. the small yields of the plot make it a confidential cuvée.