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2019 Bourgueil “Les Perrières”
Catherine & Pierre Breton
The Breton family is perhaps best known for its rock ’n’ roll natural wines, raucous parties, and generally freewheeling attitude. But for all the influence Catherine and Pierre have had in the Loire Valley pioneering progressive farming practices and creating unsulfured vins de soif, they also hold a deep affinity for the region’s more classic styles produced from its noblest terroirs. Cabernet Franc planted in 1920 on a chalky tuffeau slope yields the family’s grandest wine, a brooding elixir of satiny fruit, cedar, and graphite built to please now and over the very long term.
—Anthony Lynch
Wine Type: | red |
Vintage: | 2019 |
Bottle Size: | 750mL |
Blend: | Cabernet Franc |
Appellation: | Bourgueil |
Country: | France |
Region: | Loire |
Producer: | Catherine & Pierre Breton |
Winemaker: | Catherine & Pierre Breton |
Vineyard: | 40 years old; 1 ha |
Soil: | Silicieous Clay, Limestone |
Farming: | Biodynamic (certified) |
Alcohol: | 13% |
More from this Producer or Region

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2024 Bourgueil Rosé “La Ritournelle”
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Brisk red-fruited twang, some herbaceous zest, and an absolutely mouthwatering zingy finish.

2021 Bourgueil “La Dilettante”
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A delicate, aromatic red in the “drink now!” vein.

2023 Val de Loire Rouge Grolleau
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This wine in the Breton book is a pure old-vine Grolleau from soils of clay and silex.

2019 Vouvray “Bois Guyon”
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2022 Chinon “Beaux Monts”
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2022 Bourgueil Clairet “Avis de Vin Fort”
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Fresh and punchy Cabernet Franc from fun-loving Catherine and Pierre Breton. Light, juicy, and ready to go. Drink young, drink chilled, drink plenty.
About The Producer
Catherine & Pierre Breton
About The Region
Loire
The defining feature of the Loire Valley, not surprisingly, is the Loire River. As the longest river in France, spanning more than 600 miles, this river connects seemingly disparate wine regions. Why else would Sancerre, with its Kimmeridgian limestone terroir be connected to Muscadet, an appellation that is 250 miles away?
Secondary in relevance to the historical, climatic, environmental, and cultural importance of the river are the wines and châteaux of the Jardin de la France. The kings and nobility of France built many hundreds of châteaux in the Loire but wine preceded the arrival of the noblesse and has since out-lived them as well.
Diversity abounds in the Loire. The aforementioned Kimmderidgian limestone of Sancerre is also found in Chablis. Chinon, Bourgueil, and Saumur boast the presence of tuffeau, a type of limestone unique to the Loire that has a yellowish tinge and a chalky texture. Savennières has schist, while Muscadet has volcanic, granite, and serpentinite based soils. In addition to geologic diversity, many, grape varieties are grown there too: Cabernet Franc, Chenin Blanc, Sauvignon Blanc, and Melon de Bourgogne are most prevalent, but (to name a few) Pinot Gris, Grolleau, Pinot Noir, Pineau d’Aunis, and Folle Blanche are also planted. These myriad of viticultural influences leads to the high quality production of every type of wine: red, white, rosé, sparkling, and dessert.
Like the Rhône and Provence, some of Kermit’s first imports came from the Loire, most notably the wines of Charles Joguet and Château d’Epiré—two producers who are featured in Kermit’s book Adventures on the Wine Route and with whom we still work today.
More from Loire or France
2022 Chinon “Les Grézeaux”
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2023 Vouvray “La Dilettante”
Catherine & Pierre Breton France | Loire
2022 Chinon “Beaux Monts”
Catherine & Pierre Breton France | Loire
2020 Vin de France Rosé Grolleau/Cabernet Franc “Les Arceaux”
Grange Saint-Sauveur France | Loire
2020 Chinon “Clos du Chêne Vert”
Charles Joguet France | Loire
2022 Jasnières “Dyane”
Christine de Mianville France | Loire
2024 Val de Loire Sauvignon Blanc “Unique”
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2023 Saumur Mousseux “Bulles de Roche”
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2023 Muscadet Sèvre et Maine Sur Lie
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2020 Saumur Blanc “Clos Romans”
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2020 Saumur Champigny “La Marginale”
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2023 Sancerre
Domaine Roger Neveu France | Loire
2022 Chinon “Les Grézeaux”
Bernard Baudry France | Loire
2023 Vouvray “La Dilettante”
Catherine & Pierre Breton France | Loire
2022 Chinon “Beaux Monts”
Catherine & Pierre Breton France | Loire
2020 Vin de France Rosé Grolleau/Cabernet Franc “Les Arceaux”
Grange Saint-Sauveur France | Loire
2020 Chinon “Clos du Chêne Vert”
Charles Joguet France | Loire
2022 Jasnières “Dyane”
Christine de Mianville France | Loire
2024 Val de Loire Sauvignon Blanc “Unique”
Domaine du Salvard France | Loire
2023 Saumur Mousseux “Bulles de Roche”
Thierry Germain France | Loire
2023 Muscadet Sèvre et Maine Sur Lie
Domaine Michel Brégeon France | Loire
2020 Saumur Blanc “Clos Romans”
Thierry Germain France | Loire
2020 Saumur Champigny “La Marginale”
Thierry Germain France | Loire
2023 Sancerre
Domaine Roger Neveu France | Loire
Where the newsletter started

Where the newsletter started
Every three or four months I would send my clients a cheaply made list of my inventory, but it began to dawn on me that business did not pick up afterwards. It occurred to me that my clientele might not know what Château Grillet is, either. One month in 1974 I had an especially esoteric collection of wines arriving, so I decided to put a short explanation about each wine into my price list, to try and let my clients know what to expect when they uncorked a bottle. The day after I mailed that brochure, people showed up at the shop, and that is how these little propaganda pieces for fine wine were born.—Kermit Lynch