Catherine & Pierre Breton, Grolleau, Val de Loire IGP, Loire Valley, France 2021

This wine in the Breton book is a pure old-vine Grolleau from soils of clay and silex. The result of a carbonic maceration in wooden vats, it clocks in at a mere 10.4% alcohol, and shows its best with a slight chill. Expect hints of pepper, tomato leaf, earth, and an explosion of juicy red fruit like raspberry and cherry, plus other little berries that burst under the tooth with brightly flavored nectar.

The Bretons' Grolleau undergoes carbonic maceration for 3 weeks in an open-top wood vat. There are no pumpovers or punchdowns. The wine is bottled in the April following the harvest.

Catherine and Pierre Breton have handed the keys of their cellar in Bourgueil to their daughter France and her husband, Baptiste, who have made the entire family proud with this light-bodied, whole-cluster vinified, luscious Grolleau made for drinking cool.