La Porte Saint-Jean has in a very short space of time become one of my favourites addresses in the Loire. Sylvain Dittière began his wine journey with an internship at Château Yvonne before stints with some of the greats: Gérard Gauby, Thierry Germain, Marc Tempé, and Clos Rougeard. He then married Pauline, and at the same time became part of the iconic Foucault family, making him practically Saumur royalty. The Foucault brothers, Charly and Nady, oversaw the legendary Clos Rouegard until selling up after Charly’s death in 2015. His son Antoine Foucault is behind the elusive Domaine du Collier. 

They began farming their own vines in 2010 and now work 8 hectares. Sylvain firmly believes that each vineyard has its own microbial fingerprint, and that's what gives each wine its unique character. To preserve this, he avoids additions and instead relies on time to stabilise the wines naturally, with a minimum of 18 months elevage but often 24. Sulphur is used only in tiny doses at bottling (max 30ppm), and he determines the right amount by doing bottle trials and leaving them outside for 48 hours to see how quickly they oxidise.

Reds are always destemmed and softly macerated in concrete, aged in barrel. He has experimented with whole bunch but found the stems never ripen alongside the grapes in Franc, leading to astringent wines. Whites are directly pressed and then slowly aged untouched in serious barrels, including Clos Rougeard cast-offs and some custom toasted.

The Loire troglodyte caves are the true secret behind such pure, pulsating expressions of place. The super stable temperatures allow for long, slow ferments and very gentle ageing, where things can come together harmoniously at their own precious pace.