Story
Benoit Courault
Anjou · Loire · France
Benoît Courault farms roughly six to nine hectares around Faye d’Anjou, on the schist and sandy soils of the Anjou Noir above the Layon. A trained sommelier who studied in Beaune, he spent formative years with Eric Pfifferling at Domaine de l’Anglore in Tavel before buying his first parcels in 2005–2006. From the start he worked biodynamically — herbal teas, green manures, and later horse traction — reviving soils that had seen herbicides for years. Chenin, Grolleau, Cabernet Franc and a little Pineau d’Aunis grow mostly in goblet, hand-harvested and pressed on an old vertical press.
“In the cellar, native yeasts, old barrels and almost no sulphur define cuvées such as Gilbourg, Les Tabeneaux, Guinechiens and P’tit Chemin Sec.”
The wines are translucent and lifted, marked by the silica-rich Ordovician schist of Saint-Georges rather than by winemaking flourish. Courault remains a quiet reference for dry Anjou Chenin and for Grolleau that tastes of place.
