Laurent Lebled, On Est Su L'Sable, 2022

Loire, France

The name of this wine translates to "We're on the sand", an old term for empty drinks glasses and also a reference to the vineyard's sandy soils. Although produced in the Touraine AOC of the Loire, Laurent and his wife Sonya choose to declassify this Cab. Franc as a Vin de France (VdF, for short). Speaking of the vineyards, the grapes for this gorgeous red come from 50-70 year old parcels that are farmed organically. Low intervention practices are used in the winery with carbonic maceration and whole cluster fermentation, no fining, no filtering and no additional SO2.

Full of life and layered. Crunchy blackberry fruit and lightly herbal notes on the nose. On the palate, you're met with tart and underripe raspberry, slightly underripe blackberry and a wild herb concoction. Scrumptious!

A lighter wine that forms a beautiful pairing with roasted quail or - if you don't know what the f%^$ a quail is - chicken. Also has enough texture and generous fruit character to pair with a grilled flank steak or hanger steak (but not necessarily a ribeye).