Etienne et Claude Courtois Les Cailloux du Paradis Racines Rouge 2020 Loire Valley, France

Style 😋: Medium bodied, concentrated, with smooth tannins. This has an intriguing combination of ripe red berries, spices, and earthy minerality.

Producer: Etienne et Claude Courtois

Grape 🍇: 30 different varieties field blend

Place 🌎: Loire Valley, France

Story 📖: Claude Courtois has established a 13-hectare farm that exemplifies self-sufficiency and biodiversity. His chemical-free approach integrates organic wheat for feeding his cows and a balanced ecosystem of trees, fruit, fields, and woods. The vineyard is managed without pesticides, herbicides, or synthetic chemicals.

Claude has been transitioning responsibilities to his son Etienne, as the younger Courtois brings precision and fresh ideas to the family’s winemaking legacy. Claude, however, still focuses on crafting the Racines cuvées. This is vinified in barrel and then aged for 30 months in oak.

Pairing 🍽: Braised lamb neck with turnips

Distributor: Jenny & Francois