2024 Calvez Bobinet Aunis

Grape Varietal: Pineau d'Aunis

Country: France

Region: Loire Valley (Saumur)

The Wine: Calvez Bobinet is the Saumur estate of Sébastien Bobinet and Émeline Calvez, farming organically on tuffeau limestone soils in the hamlet of Beaulieu, with their cellar bored deep into the limestone cliff face. Aunis is their single-varietal take on Pineau d'Aunis — an ancient, Loire-native grape rarely bottled on its own, better known as a blending grape — sourced from 35-year-old vines on clay-limestone soils. Hand-harvested, then given a long carbonic maceration before being aged for four months in concrete tank, the wine is bottled unfined, unfiltered, with no added sulfur.

Aunis 2024 is about as light and unguarded as red wine gets — barely double digits in alcohol, translucent in the glass, and built entirely around the immediacy of the fruit. It opens with aromas of fresh strawberry, white pepper, and violet, with a wild, slightly stemmy lift that is entirely Pineau d'Aunis and nothing else. On the palate, it is featherweight and fluid, with silky tannin, bright juicy acidity, and a peppery, faintly mineral finish that snaps clean and makes you want another sip before you've finished deciding what you think of the last one.

Pairing: Chilled sliced jambon de pays with good butter and a baguette, grilled tuna with tapenade, a simple tomato and herb salad dressed with sherry vinegar, or a late-summer afternoon where the wine is on ice and no one has gotten around to deciding what's for dinner yet.