Deboutbertin, Pacotille, 2019

Stéphanie Debout and Vincent Bertin fell in love with the Anjou biking through the region and drinking wine at Angers’ best bistrots. Not satisfied by their Parisian lives, despite their thriving careers as engineers, they felt the urge for a ‘retour à la terre’. Attracted by the free spirit of the Anjou Noir they first harvested at Cyril Le Moing, before doing stages at Les Roches Sèches (Julien Delrieu), Olivier Cousin (where Vincent was introduced to working with horses), Jean-Francois Chené (La Coulée d’Ambrosia), and with the ubiquitous Mark Angéli. It was Mark who helped the couple setting up in 2012, into a barn adjacent to the Ferme du Mont Benault. They immediately ploughed their soils with the help of their beloved horse Anatole, a strong and gentle Percheron, who loves working the seven parcels (3.5ha) around Faye d'Anjou and Beaulieu-Sur-Layon. Stéphanie and Vincent favour old bush vines, 45yo and more, yielding intense and complex juice at a low 20hh. These ancient massal selections are also significantly more resistant to diseases (e.g. Esca). The couple likes to separate workload and decision-making, individually taking full responsibility for particular plots through the year. “It is much more pleasurable and allows us to meticulously observe, connect and fully understand our vines”, they explain.