Nicolas Barbou
Loire
When visiting Burgundy this past year, looking for future talent, we had the pleasure of meeting Nicolas Barbou for lunch. Nicolas is someone we had spoken with, heard other winemakers talk about, and been trying to connect with for some time. Although he isn't making his own wine in Burgundy, he has quite the experience under his belt. Nicolas worked with Jean Yves Bizot until 2021, prior to that he was in the cellars at Boisson Vadot. You can see why we had interest right? After working in Burgundy, New Zealand and completing school in Dijon, Nicolas finally decided he was ready to start his own project back home in the Loire Valley. Nicolas is humble, knowledgeable, and very committed to his philosophy. He knows what he wants to do, what he wants to represent and how to change the Loire for the better. I could go on and tell you more- but I think the way Nicolas describes it himself, is the best way for me to describe it to you.
"You have here my philosophy about the world of wine. Art and wine are the superior joys of the free man. This quote from Aristotle, which sums up my ideology of the world of wine. Wine is an art. The correlation between them is the foundation of my philosophy. The second aspect is the free man. Only the free man is able to make his philosophy understood through a wine.
After watching, learning, and understanding my various adventures, I wanted to make my own wine with common sense, thoughtfulness, emotion and passion. My vision consists of a few questions- what wines do I want to make? How can my bottles become a piece of art ? How to free myself from the known?
It is in this spirit that I committed to the following, grassing between the rows, vinification in barrels and long aging. Nothing is given, I have appropriated this freedom so as not to be constrained and to be able to put my foundations in place.
That’s why my project is to make emotional wine with different varieties (Sauvignon, Chardonnay, Chenin, Gamay, Pinot noir). The first one is Sauvignon with old vines in Touraine. Utopie créative is my project but my really my mentality - dreamer, sensible passionate and creative."
Viticulture and Vinification
Nicolas treats his vineyards like they are his own garden. They are given a biological approach; encouraging natural growth in their environment to promote resilience in the vines and create a sustainable ecosystem within.
For both wines, the grapes are whole bunch pressed and spend 20 months in used barrel, no racking, before being bottled with just a small dose of sulfur.
