Vincent Bergeron 'Un Rouge Chez Les Blancs' Pinot Noir, Vin de France 2021

Vincent Bergeron has been working as Frantz Saumon's right-hand man for years, and started making his own wines in Frantz's old cellar 4 years ago. He inherited a parcel of Pinot Noir from Frantz, plus a little bit of Chenin already planted on the Maison Marchandelle terroir in Montlouis, as well as a small plot he planted on the Cote Rotie Terroir, also in Montlouis.

Having learned everything about winemaking from his years with Frantz, in the cellar everything is done the natural way: indigenous yeasts, various fermentation and aging vessels, and very little sulfur additions. To us, we see a similar vein in his wines as we've been tasting for the past decade with Frantz, no doubt the imprint of this cave on the winemaking process. It's a thrilling thing to experience.

Vincent makes heady and captivating wines from Montlouis in the Loire Valley. This Pinot Noir from an organically farmed 1-acre vineyard is (in the words of the importer, Ted Vance) "...jaw-dropping, a burlesque walk from glass to nose and mouth."