A trip to Côme's cellar is always a journey of discovery. He crafts exciting, beautifully crafted wines that change every year according to what fruit he has access too and the vintage of course. I remember on the first trip we tasted a barrel of still Poire, the pears from Normandy. He said it reminded him of Chenin, and he thought of perhaps blending them one day. 3 years later it appeared in bottle to us. He follows where curiosity and circumstance lead him and it can lead to unexpected places - white wines from red grapes, fermenting raspberries, quince, even carrots. But always making something that tastes great.

it was clear from the first visit, that Côme was a very talented winemaker. He has long been working in the wine world, working under Eric Dubois at Clos Cristal before he was evicted and he still has some of these wines. Before that he spent time in South Africa where he met his wonderful partner Gretchen. He also worked in Austria with Christian Tschida, turning him more towards working in the natural fashion. These long established links help in him always managing to source impeccable fruit, from sources including the likes of Xavier Caillard.

Now teaching in a vinification school he makes these wines in tiny quantities in his spare time. The cellar is set up underneath a Chateau in Saumur, at the entrance of an old mushroom factory in caves built into the rock. He gets to use the space as the owner of the Chateau doesn’t want people breaking in and using the space for underground raves (the caves go on for miles).