La Grange Tiphaine "Rosa Rosé Rosam" Loire Valley, France 2023

FROM JENNY & FRANCOIS:

THE WINE: 80 year old vines of Grolleau, Gamay, Cot (Malbec), Cabernet Franc. A Methode Ancestrale rosé sparkler. Fun summer red fruits – strawberry and cherry with a delicious tang. A perfect refreshing off-dry drink.

THE PRODUCER: When Damien took over in 2002, at only 22 years old, he started right away to reduce the chemicals used in the vineyard, encouraged by his experience and exchanges with other winemakers in his belief that there was another way of working with the soil, “like using homeopathics instead of antibiotics for humans”. Starting with herbicides and progressively eschewing all systemic chemicals, they’ve been working fully organic since 2005.

Grange Tiphaine now definitely counts among the most respected estates in the Loire, thanks to both their community engagement (Damien teaches at a nearby lycée viticole and presides over the Montlouis-sur-Loire appellation, one of the most dynamic in the area) and the quality and consistency of their wines. Plus, Coralie and Damien gradually doubled the surface under their care to the current 16 hectares, with roughly half in Montlouis (100% Chenin Blanc, the darling versatile grape) and half in Touraine, dedicated mostly to reds. And thanks to Damien’s meticulous care, the vines are visibly singing, including the gnarly Côt (the local name for Malbec) plants next to the winery that are more than 120 years old.