Herve Villemade "Bovin" 1L 2023

Press 4 Red • August 2024 Direct Press Selection

Herve Villemade's path to organic farming and zero sulfur wines was inspired by discovering Marcel Lapierre and Tue Boeuf's wines; and that he had an allergy to sulfur. To make sulfur-free wines he needed his grapes to be super healthy, so he converted his family's vineyards to organic methods in 2000. Since then he's developed a reptuation for making some of the most reliably delicious, affordable natural wines in the Loire Valley. They are giving and generous wines, just like the cow that graces his 'Bovin' Gamay. Bovin comes from purchased fruit and it's meant to represent the liter bottles that negociant's sold in the 50s and 60s and customers could bring back for refills.

So many things to love here — 100% Gamay fermented with whole clusters and aged in concrete. Aromas of cherry candies and currants mingle with a little fresh organic funk, and on the palate there’s more cherry, more dark red fruits, plus a nice spicy complexity that reminds me of carraway and nutmeg. Herve Villemade is such a consistent winemaker, and I’m always drawn to his fresh, slightly funky wines because of how satiating they are. With or without food, it’s going to hit the spot. Jonathan Kemp and Cara Conaboy