François Saint-Lô

After a year at the Montreuil-Bellay School of Viticulture and Enology, some European travels and some practices with Anjou winemakers such as Olivier Cousin and Clos Crystal, François Saint-Lô installs himself in Berrie, a small village 25 km south of Saumur. In 2012, he presented his first vintage at the most famous natural wine fair, La Dive Bouteille.
Bercy has countless troglodytic structures and a complex labyrinth of underground cellar vaults and merging galleries. François has built his chai in one of these vast troglodytic cellars to vinify the 4.5 hectares he works with the help of his draft horse.
What is most impressive about François is his maturity and determinacy, because in addition to being a winemaker, he also has a long-term project for Bercy. There, he works with a collective of several young people, each of whom brings a specific interest or skill to the table, such as carpenter, blacksmith, or, indeed, winemaker. They all live near the immense cellar vault, either in troglodytic houses or in construction trailers, with a large communal kitchen as a place of exchange, giving the small village a communitarian utopia. All together, they are helping to revitalise this place, whose houses have often stood empty and abandoned.
This well-considered long-term vision is also reflected in François' wines. Fresh, balanced wines with an irrepressible zest for life that give the impression that the grapes have just been pressed.