Drop 01 · Discovering the Loire — 6 bottles

One grower. All of his river. We won't tell you who he is — you'll find out when the truck arrives.

What our file says: five generations, twenty hectares on black volcanic rock, a stone's throw from the ocean. The first time we opened his bottles, the room went quiet. That's why he opens the drops. Six bottles, no names — just what they taste like:

• A white from a grape almost nobody plants anymore — strung tight as a wire: lemon peel, sea spray, merciless with oysters and better with hunger.
• The Atlantic classic, raised the slow way on its lees: salt, green apple, and that faint bitter twist that calls the next glass.
• Seven years in the bottle, from an appellation everyone swears only works young: honey and smoke over the salt, standing straighter than most famous whites. The bottle you'll talk about.
• A rosé grown on black rock, where rosé isn't supposed to exist: dry, peppery, zero make-up — dangerous with a warm evening.
• The bistro grape of Paris in its everyday red version: crunchy dark fruit, a light chill, gone before the pasta arrives.
• A nearly extinct grape once poured at a duke's table, back from the dead: dark, herbal, quietly noble. Drinking it is a rescue mission.

At the wine shop these six would cost €135. In the drop: €99 — 27% off, €16.50 a bottle. Labels revealed on arrival. No bottle survives.

Bottles pictured anywhere on this site are past evidence, for display only — never the bottles in your box. Selection is entirely at our discretion; your labels are revealed on arrival.