2016 · Chenin Faisant

Thierry Besard is a family-run, third-generation producer in the Loire Valley, farming vineyards on the hillsides of the Loire and Indre rivers. The estate grows Chenin for whites, Grolleau for rosés, and Gamay, Cabernet Franc, and a little Côt for reds. Harvesting is done by hand for the whites, rosés, and old-vine reds. In the cellar, Thierry Besard uses slow, temperature-controlled fermentations followed by around six months of ageing, and also makes a pink sparkling wine by the Méthode Traditionnelle. No formal sustainability certification is noted, but the approach described is manual and rooted in traditional, low-intervention practices.