# Ferme de la Sansonnière Vin de France Rouge Les Gélinettes (2023)

- **Producer:** Ferme de la Sansonnière
- **Colour:** red
- **Type:** still
- **Grapes:** Grolleau Noir, Cabernet Sauvignon, Gamay
- **Region:** Loire, France
- **Style:** Natural
- **Alcohol:** 11.0%
- **Average price:** €50
- **Vegan:** Yes
- **Contains sulphites:** Yes
- **When to drink:** Now or Later
- **Serving temperature:** 12–14 °C
- **Aromas & flavours:** redcurrant, strawberry, cherry, blackberry, black pepper, herbaceous, smoke, tobacco

## About this wine

Mark Angeli acquired Ferme de la Sansonnière in 1990 in Thouarcé, Anjou, becoming a benchmark pioneer of biodynamic and natural winemaking in the Loire Valley. Angeli deliberately abandoned the Anjou AOC classification to bottle his wines under Vin de France, preserving total creative freedom. Today, his son Martial vinifies alongside him. While world-famous for complex dry Chenin Blancs, Les Gélinettes represents the estate's sole red cuvée, originating from a frost-prone 0.5 to 0.7 hectare parcel of shallow schist and clay soils.

## Interesting facts

- Les Gélinettes loosely translates to 'the little ones that freeze', named after the low-lying parcel's susceptibility to early spring frost.
- Mark Angeli intentionally declassified all estate cuvées to Vin de France to avoid regulatory constraints on natural winemaking.
- Les Gélinettes is the only red wine produced by Ferme de la Sansonnière, an estate world-renowned for white Chenin Blancs.
- When sulfur is used at the estate for white wines, Mark Angeli uses 100% natural elemental sulfur mined directly from an active volcano.

## Food pairing

With bright acidity, soft fine tannins, and energetic red fruit notes, this delicate red wine complements lighter meats, charcuterie, and regional Loire goat cheeses without overpowering delicate flavors.

## Wine making process

The grapes undergo 100% manual destemming followed by a gentle three to five-week submerged cap infusion in wooden tronconic vats, using native yeasts for spontaneous fermentation. Aging takes place in neutral wooden vats or French oak barriques. The wine is bottled without fining, filtration, or added sulfur dioxide.