François Saint-Lô
I first met François Saint-Lô in 2013, when he was pouring a small portfolio of 2012s, his first-ever vintage. At the time he didn’t even have labels for his wines, just some photocopied mock-ups he had glued, slightly askew, to the bottles. Among his three wines there was an enticing Chenin Blanc, named Ch’nin de Vie; it sang out to me, its aromas clean and pure, with a fine depth of flavour on the palate, shimmering with notes of white peach. The quality in the wine was plain to see, as was the potential in François, even if the reds he poured were somewhat less interesting than his white. I hoped I would meet him again someday, and taste more from him.
It took more than a few years, but our paths did eventually cross once more, late in 2021. The world was by this time a very different place; I tasted his wines in the shadow of a global pandemic, my first time travelling to France for two years. He showed his reds, from the 2020 and 2019 vintages; they were much improved on his very first efforts, back in 2012. Sadly there was no white to taste, so I was unable to update my opinion regarding that cuvée; I just hope I don’t have to wait another eight years before I have that opportunity.
In this profile I provide some detail on François Saint-Lô (pictured) and his wines, but first I present a potted history of the domaine. Very potted, because when François landed in the Loire Valley in 2012 he was a viticultural neophyte.
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