Pascal Carole “Méli-moulin” VDF White 2022

Region: Saumur
Grape: Chenin Blanc
Vineyard: grown by Claude & Julien Mesnard in Montreuil-Bellay
Soil: ancient alluvium and limestone with flint
Farming: certified organic
Harvest: by hand
Winemaking: 20% of the grapes were destemmed and macerated in direct press juice from the
remaining 80% with gentle punchdowns daily over 14 days.
Aging: 7 months in stainless steel, 6 months in bottle.
Fining: none
Filtration: none
Added Added S02: none

Pascal Carole is originally from the French Caribbean island of Martinique but hopped around most of his life with long stays in Canada and the United States. After several years of tinkering with fermentation but doing unrelated work, Pascal was introduced to wine making and wine makers through a class at San Francisco’s Ruby Wine. Not long after, he got to pick some grapes and make a little Chardonnay. That experience compelled him to change careers and spend a year working with Brent Mayeaux before moving with his family to Saumur to start his own project.

The 2022 vintage was made in a troglodyte cave but the operation has since moved to Pascal‘s garage winery on an island in the middle of the Loire river. Everything is currently made with purchased Cabernet Franc and Chenin Blanc from local growers who farm organically at the very least. As much as possible, wines are made from the same parcels year over year.

Only 2,100 bottles were made in the first vintage—a number which has now grown to 3,400 bottles a year. The small production allows Pascal to exercise a great deal of care while also trying to make wine as fearlessly as possible.