Laurent Saillard 'La Pause' Gamay Vin de France 2024

Laurent Saillard first made a name for himself as an early evangelist of the NYC natural wine movement in the 2000s at his Brooklyn restaurant, Ici. His love affair with natural wine eventually took him to France for a more hands-on approach, and for the last decade he’s been making natural wines of his own in the Loire. After an initial period experimenting with rented vineyards, he purchased half of the Clos Roche Blanche estate upon the owners’ retirement in 2015, and now owns 6 hectares which are farmed through a combination of organic and biodynamic techniques. Ironically, a good amount of his wine ends up back in New York bars and restaurants, where it is much in demand! ‘La Pause’ is gamay from 40+ year old vines on clay and limestone soils, aged for 8 months in neutral vats before bottling without filtration. Pure and bright, this is gamay with serious attitude: vibrant streaks of luscious red fruit mingle with spiced plum and hints of Twizzlers, with elegant accents of crushed violets and a core of limestone mineral underneath it all. Organically grown, biodynamically grown, low-intervention/natural wine, vegan.