Marco Polo, 2024

Juicy and light on its feet, with soft tannins and none of the heft people brace for in a red.

Charlotte and Thomas Carsin farm organically around Saint-Aubin-de-Luigné in Anjou, and Marco Polo is their bottle of Grolleau Noir, an old Loire red grape, on its own. The vines average 45 years, on limestone mixed with cinerite, a stone made of volcanic ash. Whole bunches, stems and all, sit in steel for under a week before pressing, then the wine rests in old wooden tanks. It comes out juicy and medium-bodied with soft tannins, bottled unfined, unfiltered and with barely any sulphur.