1006 Vins de Loire

From the Atlantic Ocean to the Massif Central, the Loire River flows 1006 kilometers, making it the longest river in France. Along its course through the heart of France, the Loire carves its way through a vast range of terroirs and regions with diverse viticultural traditions. Its source is in the Ardèche, which has volcanic soils similar to the nearby Beaujolais and Northern Rhone. As the Loire changes course from north to west, the soils change to clay-limestone and flint. Then, for apace, every imaginable variation of limestone soil is visited before reaching the ancient metamorphic and volcanic terroirs of the Anjou Noir and Nantais. The complexity and diversity is why we love the Loire.

Pauline Lair shares our love of the Loire in all its complexity. So much so that when she decided to make wine there, she couldn’t choose just one place to settle. Instead, she created her urban cellar in Angers and sourced her fruit from friends and like-minded growers she had met over the years. The values that Pauline shares with her partners is a respect for the land reflected in sustainable and organic farming, and she travels up and down the Loire to monitor the health and progress of the vines she’s selected for her fittingly named project, 1006 Vins de Loire.

To preserve the hard work of her growers and ensure that her wines respect their terroir, fermentations are spontaneous, and elevage is transparent. Labeled by variety rather than the appellation, the range from 1006 Vins de Loire is far from being divorced from their place of origiInsteadher, Pauline’s wines are equally satisfying for enthusiasts familiar with every nook and cranny of the Loire’s terroirs and those just learning about this region’s diverse wealth of varieties and regional expression.

“In love with the Loire, what animates me is to craft sincere wines reflecting their terroir of origin. I vinify the grapes of my partners in a natural way. That means thanks to indigenous yeasts, with little or no intervention, without dogma, in order to make it good and alive! Cheers!” –Pauline Lair