Sébastien Bobinet, 2015 Update
Like many of the Loire’s newcomers in recent years Sébastien Bobinet has not lived all his life immersed in wine. Although his domaine has deep roots, and he can stake a claim as an eighth-generation vigneron, Sébastien’s father had in fact sold off much of what the family owned before it came to Sébastien’s time to inherit. As such, Sébastien received just 2 hectares of vines from his grandfather, and it was from this small beginning that the domaine grew. He began making wine in 2003, the fact he had no formal training clearly not a barrier to him, and since then he has been joined by Eméline Chavez, a trained dancer and Sébastien’s partner. They seem to have slipped seamlessly into the ‘natural’ wine scene, turning out a range of easy-drinking examples of Saumur and Saumur-Champigny (and the occasional Vin de France as well, of course) rather than more ageworthy wines on the whole. So far, I have found the domaine to be stronger in white than red, although recent poor vintages may have exacerbated this perception.
I recently had the opportunity to taste the latest releases with Sébastien (pictured above). I wasn’t surprised, with three vintages poured, that 2014 tended to show a much stronger character than 2013 and 2012.
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