2021 Bernard Baudry Chinon Les Mollires Loire, France

100% Cabernet Franc. 2020 was the first individual bottling of this particular 1-hectare plot, Mollires, which previously was incorporated into another cuve. Mollires lies in the extreme west of Chinon, at the highest hillside location of any of Baudry’s vines. It is a windy, well-exposed site with heavy clay and yellow limestone soils. The farming is certified-organic. All vineyard work, including harvest, is by hand. The fruit is destemmed without crushing and moved by gravity into unlined cement vats. Fermentation is spontaneous with native yeasts and without sulfur or temperature control; maceration lasts around two weeks with a daily pumpover and no punchdowns. The wine is aged in concrete tank for 15 months and bottled without filtration. Sulfur usage is minimal.