It's been a while since we've been able to release new wines from Pauline & Laurent at L'Austral, so we're thrilled to finally have available their supple expressions of Cab-Franc and detailed, chiselled Chenin from Saumur Puy-Notre-Dame.
Starting out as a four hectare project, Pauline & Laurent moved house in 2020, jumping at the chance to live beside an extra two hectares of Grolleau and Chenin. Just 5 minutes from their old home, the biggest draw for Pauline was the caves cut into the chalk below the house, ideal for the long, slow fermentations and ageing she prefers:
"It's been perfect, especially as the region continues to warm, these hotter vintages can be beautiful, they really just need time and the right conditions."
Now with a total surface of six hectares, their new parcels (of old vines) have been farmed organically for 15 years, whilst their original four-hectares had been converted to biodynamics back in the early 90's by Puy Notre Dame's godfather of natural wine: Philippe Gourdon.
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In the caves, Pauline works gently. The whites are pressed slowly overnight, and fermentations are allowed to continue low & slow for months at a time, in all manner of vessels. Concrete eggs and amphora are among her favourites. For the reds, they work at odds with the history of the region, macerating much of their Cab Franc and Grolleau as whole bunches, gentle infusions that see the wines landing light on their feet, but with lovely complexity and delicate structure.
Across a cluster of vintages, we have the following releases available.
WHITE
2021 - Octopus Blanc - L'Austral - Le Puy-Notre-Dame, Saumur - Chenin
"Spring Chenin! 2021 was a much more classic Loire climate after so much heat for a few years. So this has lovely freshness, from two parcels of old vines, up to 80 years old. Pressed very slowly to stainless steel for fermentation and ageing, bottled after just six months to have a nice fresh release. It's developed really nicely"
2018 - Fontenelles - L'Austral - Le Puy-Notre-Dame, Saumur - Chenin
"This is a unique parcel with lots of silex (flint) so in 'normal' years this can be very sharp, but 2018 was so warm that it's developed a beautiful softness. It's very gastronomic and complex, finishing with a very long minerality. 2018 was difficult for lots of neighbours, but we aged this for two years in amphora, and I think it's developed beautifully."
2019 - Amandiers - L'Austral - Le Puy-Notre-Dame, Saumur - Chenin
"Amandiers is a 60 year old parcel on the tuffeau, it always has such a beautiful salinity that's very particular to this parcel. This was also aged for two years in amphora, I love the tension in Amandiers."
RED
2021 - Octopus Rouge - L'Austral - Le Puy-Notre-Dame, Saumur - Grolleau/Cab Franc
"The Octopus used to both be negocé, but since we took the extra parcels in 2020, it's all now from our own fruit. The blend is 50/50, and half of the fruit is de-stemmed, half whole bunches. Just a 10 day maceration in concrete, where it was aged for 6 months. I like the 2021, it's very fresh, great pepper on this one."
2020 - Manta - L'Austral - Le Puy-Notre-Dame, Saumur - Cab Franc
"Manta is from the parcel Philippe used to call 253, it's amazing how much it has changed. He never would have done any whole-bunch back then, it would have been too vegetal! Manta we do the layered 'mille-feuille' technique, a really delicate infusion for 15 days, aged for 8 months in concrete eggs. 2020 is a richer vintage for sure, but I love the concentration of fruit, the deep violets."
2019 - V. - L'Austral - Le Puy-Notre-Dame, Saumur - Cab Franc
"Our final year working with the 'Vigneaux' parcel, hence the full-stop, it's the final point of our journey with these vines. 2019 is incredibly pure, a really beautiful balance between complexity and lightness. Half whole-bunch and half de-stemmed. If you were going to tuck away a vintage of Cab Franc from Saumur, 2019 would be the one for me! I think it's going to continue developing very beautifully."