Jean-Christophe Garnier
Saint Lambert du Lattay - Layon - Loire
Jean-Christophe was a sommelier before deciding to pack it in and actually make the stuff. He studied winemaking in the Loire and after a stage with Marc Angeli bought a few plots of vines and started making his own wine.
He has some 60 year old and 40 year old Chenin vines and a bit of Cabernet Franc, Grolleau, Gamay and Pineau d’Aunis. The vines grow on schist, limestone and marl – the distinctive terroir of the Layon valley. It is not just the vineyards that make JCG’s wines so special; his Chenins spend a long time pressing softly so as to extract the juice gently – there can be a delicate oxidative quality that adds to the complexity of these wines.
