La Ferme de la Sansonnière, 2009 Update
Mark Angeli is a unique character; I have touched on the style of his wines in my brief profile of La Ferme de la Sansonnière, but as for the man himself I believe I have barely scratched the surface.
Angeli is a chemistry graduate turned stonemason who is now, as he describes himself, a viticultural paysan solidaire. This latter term is an interesting one; solidaire translates as “interdependent” or “to show solidarity”, and I think the paysan (peasant) Angeli is telling is of his interdependence with the vineyard and with nature; he sees himself as merely a cog in a viticultural system or mechanism. This is reflected in his vinous evolution; Angeli has evolved from a Bordeaux-trained viticulturist (he gained experience at both Suduiraut and La Tour Blanche), after which he made his name turning out fine examples of Bonnezeaux, an exalted appellation, before establishing himself as a paragon of all things natural and biodynamic, making Anjou of varying levels of sweetness from his Bonnezeaux vines, up to the point where his latest releases are deemed sufficiently atypical to be refused the agrément, the official stamp that deems the wines as suitable for bottling under the appellation.
Hence Angeli’s 2007s tasted here are all bottled under the Vin de France designation, in other words Vin de Table. With Angeli’s track record, however, I am quite sure he will have no problem selling them. Being honest, it’s not as if the appellation Anjou has any great cachet, anyway, and the “brands” here – especially La Lune – are strong ones. How they will age is difficult to know; some reports on wines of his that have some bottle age behind them suggest they can be prone to oxidation, an effect of a low sulphur regime I would think. These wines here, although impressive now, already show some interesting oxidative hints in aroma and flavour.
