PEBBLES OF PARADISE🦄 (Loire Legends)

Source note: This post is adapted from Parched's September 10, 2026 newsletter

Hey,

Isn't it just wonderful when some cellared stock rolls through the doors, especially when it’s a small but mighty parcel from Les Cailloux du Paradis. Natural wine royalty, tucked away in their remote corner of the Loire. No one does it like them. Some fresher whites and some maturing reds that have aged into an absolutely perfect drinking window.

Of their land, only six hectares are actually vines. The rest is a rich mix of meadows (including wheat for their cows), forest and fruit orchards planted with apple, pear and plum trees. In the vineyards, flint clay sits on ancient limestone bedrock, giving strong, resilient and deep-rooted vines. It's this insanely biodiverse environment that's allowed Claude Courtois to build the trailblazing domain to legendary status.

Claude started out over 45 years ago, one of the rare true pioneers of organic farming since the 1970s. In just the last 25 years he's planted 34 different red and white varieties across those six hectares, including rare grapes and experimental hybrids. Part environmental thinking for a changing climate, part safeguarding genetic lineages at risk of disappearing altogether. He treats the soil on his farm as a living thing: no pesticides, herbicides, fungicides, chemical fertilisers or synthetic chemicals of any kind.

His son Etienne now does the majority of the farming and winemaking, carrying on his father's work of patient élevage. The wines have never looked so good. Iconic for a reason.

In the white corner, things are mineral, fresh and energetic. Quartz is a tightly coiled, razor-sharp Sauvignon. Lightly herbal, it flows like a stream running off wet rocks. A crystalline beauty that drinks young but will go all golden if you decant or cellar. Racines continues the herbal theme, all menthol-fresh and anise-like, a vinous equivalent of Chartreuse. A huge blend that is much more than the sum of its parts. Romorantin is an old-school Loire variety that Claude and co have been central to revitalising, marrying honeyed, quince-like fruit with lashings of acidity. If you like really good Savagnin or Chenin, this will appeal to you. Probably the best example I've ever tasted, and it will comfortably live for decades too.

The reds are all wines held back since initial release. They already see long élevages in barrel and we've matched this with additional time in bottle. If the whites above were mineral and fresh, these are brooding, dense wines with rich cores of iron and earth. Savoury, seductive, wildly captivating and rustically charming. Given the patience they need. Perhaps not for the faint of heart, but a great opportunity to taste vin de garde from a pioneer.

Naysayers often remark that natural wines are mere exercises in short extraction for simple 'glou glou' styles. I say, drink a bottle of this! Deep and brooding, this is Cab Franc in its most unadulterated form. Long maceration before a long élevage before a long snooze in the bottle. This is a big wine, spiced plummy fruit giving way to seriously tasty notes of undergrowth and forest floor. There is so much going on, words don't do it justice.

Malbec doesn't tend to be something I usually reach for. However when it's in the hands of a legendary producer, and especially with a little bottle age, I too can be partial to a splash. This is a really great example, with its brambly nature and sweet spice. There's some signature earthen stuff and a rustic tannin structure that is just starting to soften. A trip to the butchers for a good steak, and that is your evening sorted.

The truly iconic label is a huge mix of some familar grapes alongside the aforementioned plantings of old forgotten things and new hybrids. After a decade, things have now gone so savoury, whilst the acidity remains present and cutting. You can thank us again for dealing with the whole ageing thing for you. Such a curious wine, all fig leaves and plums before turning mineral and iron-rich. Layered and multidimensional, a wine for reflection.

Tiny quantities of these older reds, but if you want some current releases, still 2020s, we can sort that for you too. Just pop us an email.

Right, tomorrow at 11am we're gonna be releasing some very very special wine. We have finally received an allocation from one of the most elusive growers in Champagne, Aurélien Lurquin. Such tiny quantities. It will be packed for your pleasure alongside some very special bottles. A single pack of fizz and coteaux will be going online at 11am sharp. Set your alarm.

Those on the VIP mailing list will get a little reminder straight to your inbox, alongside access to an allocation of his neighbours and friends in the Montagne de Reims! If you're new, you can sign up here for those unicorn drops.

If you're simply impatient and like fizzy wine of the highest order that is tightly allocated, you should check out Mathieu Deshautels, who is also very much an IYKYK producer. I tasted the first vintage last year in Paris, and it's still reverberating around my skull. So pleased we're finally seeing a small amount land in the UK. Mathieu owns two small plots, under 0.7ha. Both are Grand Crus, one in Cramant and one in Le Mesnil-sur-Oger. This is a blend. All Chardonnay, all Brut Nature, no sulphur either. A rippin' expression that speaks directly to the chalky soils of these wonderful sites, at once rich and creamy, akin to a Burgundy with bubbles, yet with acid lines pulsing through that could only come from Champagne. The production is microscopic, so get in early whilst you have a chance.

Speak soon,
Fionn
xoxo