Crafted from a blend of Chenin Blanc, Cabernet Franc & Chardonnay, this beautiful biodynamic sparkling wine is a truly epic alternative to Champagne. Matured in tank and oak barrel and aged for 18 months on lees before bottling with no dosage, this spine-tinglingly fresh and minerally sparkling manages to be salty and bony yet with these layers of pear, almond and golden yellow apple too. It's an absolutely delicious lo-fi French sparkling wine!

Thierry Germain from Roches Neuves strikes as a restless soul. One of the absolute stars of the Saumur-Champigny appellation in France's Loire Valley, Germain's approach to grapegrowing and winemaking has made him both an outlier and a hero. In the vineyard, that means horse ploughing to reduce soil compaction, a tree-planting program within the vineyard rows to encourage biodiversity (now up to 100 species), a strict biodynamic regime and avoiding pesticides or herbicides. Finally, the winemaking here is also hands-off, with almost no additions, fining or filtration and long, slow maturation in very large old oak barrels. You can taste what all that means - Germain's stunning Cabernet Franc and Chenin Blanc-based wines are sublime, with powerful yet silken reds and intensely flavoured whites that are probably more aligned to the greatest wines of Burgundy than anything else. What a pleasure to have these delicious examples of Loire wines here at GPD!