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2019 Bourgueil “Les Perrières”
Catherine & Pierre Breton
The Breton family is perhaps best known for its rock ’n’ roll natural wines, raucous parties, and generally freewheeling attitude. But for all the influence Catherine and Pierre have had in the Loire Valley pioneering progressive farming practices and creating unsulfured vins de soif, they also hold a deep affinity for the region’s more classic styles produced from its noblest terroirs. Cabernet Franc planted in 1920 on a chalky tuffeau slope yields the family’s grandest wine, a brooding elixir of satiny fruit, cedar, and graphite built to please now and over the very long term.
—Anthony Lynch
Wine Type: | red |
Vintage: | 2019 |
Bottle Size: | 750mL |
Blend: | Cabernet Franc |
Appellation: | Bourgueil |
Country: | France |
Region: | Loire |
Producer: | Catherine & Pierre Breton |
Winemaker: | Catherine & Pierre Breton |
Vineyard: | 40 years old; 1 ha |
Soil: | Silicieous Clay, Limestone |
Farming: | Biodynamic (certified) |
Alcohol: | 13% |
More from this Producer or Region

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2023 Val de Loire Rouge Grolleau
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This wine in the Breton book is a pure old-vine Grolleau from soils of clay and silex.

2024 Bourgueil Rosé “La Ritournelle”
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2022 Chinon “Beaux Monts”
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About The Producer
Catherine & Pierre Breton
About The Region
Loire
The defining feature of the Loire Valley, not surprisingly, is the Loire River. As the longest river in France, spanning more than 600 miles, this river connects seemingly disparate wine regions. Why else would Sancerre, with its Kimmeridgian limestone terroir be connected to Muscadet, an appellation that is 250 miles away?
Secondary in relevance to the historical, climatic, environmental, and cultural importance of the river are the wines and châteaux of the Jardin de la France. The kings and nobility of France built many hundreds of châteaux in the Loire but wine preceded the arrival of the noblesse and has since out-lived them as well.
Diversity abounds in the Loire. The aforementioned Kimmderidgian limestone of Sancerre is also found in Chablis. Chinon, Bourgueil, and Saumur boast the presence of tuffeau, a type of limestone unique to the Loire that has a yellowish tinge and a chalky texture. Savennières has schist, while Muscadet has volcanic, granite, and serpentinite based soils. In addition to geologic diversity, many, grape varieties are grown there too: Cabernet Franc, Chenin Blanc, Sauvignon Blanc, and Melon de Bourgogne are most prevalent, but (to name a few) Pinot Gris, Grolleau, Pinot Noir, Pineau d’Aunis, and Folle Blanche are also planted. These myriad of viticultural influences leads to the high quality production of every type of wine: red, white, rosé, sparkling, and dessert.
Like the Rhône and Provence, some of Kermit’s first imports came from the Loire, most notably the wines of Charles Joguet and Château d’Epiré—two producers who are featured in Kermit’s book Adventures on the Wine Route and with whom we still work today.
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2023 Vouvray “Les Fondraux”
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2022 Sancerre Blanc “Pierre François Xavier Vieilles Vignes”
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2023 Chinon Rosé
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2022 Vin de France Rouge “Le Martray”
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2018 Saumur Blanc “L’Échelier”
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2023 Vouvray “Les Fondraux”
Champalou France | Loire
2022 Sancerre Blanc “Pierre François Xavier Vieilles Vignes”
Domaine Roger Neveu France | Loire
2023 Chinon Rosé
Bernard Baudry France | Loire
2022 Vin de France Rouge “Le Martray”
Grange Saint Sauveur France | Loire
2023 Muscadet Côtes de Grand Lieu sur lie “La Nöe”
Eric Chevalier France | Loire
2022 Sancerre Rouge
Domaine Hippolyte Reverdy France | Loire
2019 Vin de France Rouge Grolleau/Cabernet Franc “Clandestine”
Grange Saint-Sauveur France | Loire
2023 Chardonnay
Eric Chevalier France | Loire
2022 Sancerre “Les Coutones”
Daniel Chotard France | Loire
2023 Saumur Mousseux “Bulles de Roche”
Thierry Germain France | Loire
2023 Sancerre Rouge
Daniel Chotard France | Loire
Kermit once said...

Kermit once said...
Let the brett nerds retire into protective bubbles, and whenever they thirst for wine it can be passed in to them through a sterile filter. Those of us on the outside can continue to enjoy complex, natural, living wines.
Inspiring Thirst, page 236