Vincent Gaudry, Sancerre 'Tournebride', 2022

Vincent left school at 16 because studies weren’t his forte, he wanted to work outside and use his hands so he began work at his father's domaine George Gaudry. By the time Vincent joined him in 1991 the estate had recently grown to 9.5ha, his father had always ploughed the vineyards but when Vincent took over at the age of 18, he fell so violently ill following the spraying of a chemical treatment that he began to worry about their effects on the soil, his vines, fellow workers, his health, and decided to cease all chemical sprays – becoming one of the first to do so in Sancerre. He initially converted to organic viticulture in 1995 and then progressed to biodynamics by 2002. Vines are hand-harvested and aged in a mix of stainless steel, 6000ltr tronconique wooden cuves and older barrels. Natural yeasts are used for the fermentations, malos are not blocked and he carries out long ageing on fine lees before bottling with no fining, no filtration and sulphur levels averaging around 50-60mg/l total, half the average in the appellation.