a trip to the loire valley
aug 2022
Market research never tasted so good. A trip to the Loire Valley was inspiring and invigorating, as we gear up for harvest in Eastern Washington.
Last month, my sister Lisa & I had the opportunity to visit with a variety of producers in the Loire Valley, France. We spent time in the vineyards, cellars, and caves of Domaine Lise et Bertrand Jousset and Les Capriades - known for their excellent pet-nat wines. Their winemakers Pascal Potaire and Moses Gadouche, are known as Kings of Pét-Nats, and are some of the top pét-nat producers not only in the Loire Valley, but in France as a whole.
Both producers generously allowed Lisa and I to taste over a dozen wines, many from tank and barrel, and several we disgorged on the spot for tasting. I was struck by their tremendous hospitality and generosity around knowledge sharing, in addition to the quality of some of the oldest pét-nats I have ever tasted.
I learned quite a lot about their processes, thoughts on aging wines, and their ways of identifying when wines are ready - and when they needed a little more time in the bottle. Many of the methods were very similar to what we are already doing with Pét Project. Inspired by this trip, I’m looking forward to making a few updates to our portfolio and cellar procedures this upcoming harvest, as we continue to develop our winemaking process.
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