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Patrice Colin 'Perles Rouges' Coteaux du Vendômois
Patrice Colin 'Perles Rouges' Coteaux du Vendômois
Grapes — 100% Gamay
Region — Coteaux du Vendômois, Loire Valley, France
Tasting Notes — Deep ruby with a lively froth that settles in the glass. The nose is vivid and expressive — dried cranberry, morello cherry, wild strawberry, dried flowers, and forest floor, with a smoky, flinty undercurrent that is unmistakably Loire. The palate is medium-bodied, dry, and refreshingly bright — crisp red cherry fruit, leather, earth, and pepper, with a fine mousse and mouthwatering acidity that makes this the red pét-nat equivalent of reaching for another glass before finishing the first. Think high-quality Lambrusco by way of the northern Loire.
The Wine — 100% Gamay from Patrice Colin's certified organic vineyards on the limestone and flinty sandy clay plateau of Thoré-la-Rochette — the same plateau where the Perles Grises is grown, but here giving a very different expression. The Perles Rouges is produced in the ancestral method: bottled partway through a single fermentation, with native yeasts completing their work in bottle, trapping the CO2 naturally and creating the wine's lively sparkle without any additions. Low sulfite, vegan, zero dosage.
Farming — Certified organic since 1988 — one of the earliest organic certifications in the Loire Valley, and a full decade before it was remotely fashionable. Patrice farms 25 hectares on the plateau of Thoré-la-Rochette, a naturally drier microclimate than the surrounding valley that reduces disease pressure and makes clean farming genuinely achievable. Over 150 different plant species grow in the vineyards, maintained as a deliberate act of biodiversity stewardship. Massal selection, green harvest, soil tilling for oxygenation — nothing added, nothing taken away.
Winemaking — Indigenous yeast fermentation only. Bottled mid-fermentation in the ancestral method — no secondary yeast or sugar addition, no dosage. The wine is riddled (remuaged) before disgorgement to remove the lees sediment — a slightly more refined approach than most pét-nats, giving it a cleaner presentation without sacrificing any of its natural character. Very low sulfites. No additions of any kind during winemaking.
The Producer — Patrice Colin is the eighth generation of his family to make wine in Thoré-la-Rochette — a lineage traceable to 1735 in one of the Loire's smallest and most overlooked appellations. The Coteaux du Vendômois is the northernmost of the Loire appellations, home to only 13 private producers, and Patrice is its most committed advocate. He has farmed organically since 1988, encourages extraordinary biodiversity across his holdings, and makes wines consistent with the philosophy of vin naturel at every stage — indigenous yeasts, long fermentations, minimal sulfur, no manipulations. The Perles Rouges and the Perles Grises (also on our shelf) together represent his most joyful expression of that philosophy: bubbles as nature intended, from a place almost nobody has heard of, by a family that has been doing it right for nearly three centuries.
Drink It With — Charcuterie, sausages, grilled meats and vegetables, a cheese board, burgers, or anything that benefits from a red pét-nat that takes itself just seriously enough to be completely delicious.
Patrice Colin 'Perles Rouges' Coteaux du Vendômois
Grapes — 100% Gamay
Region — Coteaux du Vendômois, Loire Valley, France
Tasting Notes — Deep ruby with a lively froth that settles in the glass. The nose is vivid and expressive — dried cranberry, morello cherry, wild strawberry, dried flowers, and forest floor, with a smoky, flinty undercurrent that is unmistakably Loire. The palate is medium-bodied, dry, and refreshingly bright — crisp red cherry fruit, leather, earth, and pepper, with a fine mousse and mouthwatering acidity that makes this the red pét-nat equivalent of reaching for another glass before finishing the first. Think high-quality Lambrusco by way of the northern Loire.
The Wine — 100% Gamay from Patrice Colin's certified organic vineyards on the limestone and flinty sandy clay plateau of Thoré-la-Rochette — the same plateau where the Perles Grises is grown, but here giving a very different expression. The Perles Rouges is produced in the ancestral method: bottled partway through a single fermentation, with native yeasts completing their work in bottle, trapping the CO2 naturally and creating the wine's lively sparkle without any additions. Low sulfite, vegan, zero dosage.
Farming — Certified organic since 1988 — one of the earliest organic certifications in the Loire Valley, and a full decade before it was remotely fashionable. Patrice farms 25 hectares on the plateau of Thoré-la-Rochette, a naturally drier microclimate than the surrounding valley that reduces disease pressure and makes clean farming genuinely achievable. Over 150 different plant species grow in the vineyards, maintained as a deliberate act of biodiversity stewardship. Massal selection, green harvest, soil tilling for oxygenation — nothing added, nothing taken away.
Winemaking — Indigenous yeast fermentation only. Bottled mid-fermentation in the ancestral method — no secondary yeast or sugar addition, no dosage. The wine is riddled (remuaged) before disgorgement to remove the lees sediment — a slightly more refined approach than most pét-nats, giving it a cleaner presentation without sacrificing any of its natural character. Very low sulfites. No additions of any kind during winemaking.
The Producer — Patrice Colin is the eighth generation of his family to make wine in Thoré-la-Rochette — a lineage traceable to 1735 in one of the Loire's smallest and most overlooked appellations. The Coteaux du Vendômois is the northernmost of the Loire appellations, home to only 13 private producers, and Patrice is its most committed advocate. He has farmed organically since 1988, encourages extraordinary biodiversity across his holdings, and makes wines consistent with the philosophy of vin naturel at every stage — indigenous yeasts, long fermentations, minimal sulfur, no manipulations. The Perles Rouges and the Perles Grises (also on our shelf) together represent his most joyful expression of that philosophy: bubbles as nature intended, from a place almost nobody has heard of, by a family that has been doing it right for nearly three centuries.
Drink It With — Charcuterie, sausages, grilled meats and vegetables, a cheese board, burgers, or anything that benefits from a red pét-nat that takes itself just seriously enough to be completely delicious.