2025 Julien Braud Pinot Noir

Julien Braud hails from the small village of Monnières in the Sèvre et Maine appellation. Today Julien Braud owns just over seven hectares, with only around five hectares going into his production. Julien Braud began his winemaking career at his family’s estate, where heworked through the 2011 vintage. In 2012, he ventured out on his own when he took over three hectares from his parents. His vision was to work in a way that highlighted the individual terroirs of the region and the heights to which melon could be taken. At the young age of 29 years old, Julien is one of only a handful of the next generation of winemakers in the region. He works entirely organically and is recently fully certified and incorporates aspects of biodynamics to his approach. Julien Braud uses horses in his vineyards to minimize soil compaction, hand harvests, uses only natural yeasts for fermentation after a gentle press, and ages the wines on their lees in glass-lined, underground cement vats. This is our first red wine from Julien, in the form of a spritely varietal pinot noir. Where Loire pinot noir is often lacking, in fruit and depth, this one is rich! We could see this one becoming a staple here, if there were enough to go around, which there isn't. Put a little chill on this and serve it with jerk grilled chicken.