Leading the natural wine movement with ally Nicolas Joly, Mark Angéli has been farming 7ha of vineyards and 4ha of fruits and vegetables in Anjou, Loire valley. He doesn't call his winery "domaine", and he named his land "la ferme(=farm)" instead, and he calls himself "paysan(=peasant)". To be as self-sufficient as possible, he has a small herd of cows for compost, meat and milk for cheese, hens for egg and meat, bees for honey as well.
Mark Angéli's land is managed along the biodynamic principles and its agricultural entity is structured like a small planet, complete with those farm animals and different crops in order to create a diverse and balanced sustainable ecosystem that can result in healthy crops and products.
Mark Angéli also works in natural manner(needless to say...) in the cellar. He uses sulfur which originates from volcano instead of petrochemical origins sulfur which is used by most of wineries globally, and Mark Angéli and his allies could reduce the volume of sulfur less than half successfully.
They are thinking that wine producer should indicate details of ingredients, use of other factors(such as SO2, sucrose, sorbic acid, culture yeast), organic certificate(if they have) etc. To be sincere producer to consumers, La Ferme de la Sansonnière indicates those information on the label.
Like the majority of the quality oriented natural wine producers in Loire valley, Mark Angéli was also outsider(originally he is from Provence). He had finally arrived at the land of Sansonnière in 1989 almost by chance after many twists and turns. One of the reason was the price of land. Vineyard price in this area is most affordable in France.
Back in 1989 almost no one made quality wines in the region except for a few wineries. All the wineries had been trying to produce more volume with use of machinery, fertilizers and agricultural chemicals since 1960's.
An encounter with Nicolas Joly indicated Mark Angéli the direction to go and he had begun to farm his land biodynamically. Today he allocates 4ha for Chenin Blanc, 2ha for Grolleau Gris and 1ha for Grolleau Noir. He stopped Cabernet Sauvignon and Cabernet Franc has been maintained for graftage only. Biodynamic farming and extreme low yield are bringing superb concentration and purity to the wines.
La Lune is made from Chenin Blanc and spend one year ageing in barrels as a standard cuvee. La Lune has "amphores" version too. This cuvée is aged in burried amphora for one year. Another Chenin Blanc wine is Les Fouchardes monopole. These Chenin were planted in 1970. Wines are aged for two years in barrels before bottling. The top cuvée Vieilles Vignes des Blanderies is also aged for two years in barrels and these old vines were planted in 1949. Rosé d'un Jour is made from Grolleau Gris. All wines have residual sugar, so wines are slightly sweeter than normal dry wines.
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Mark Angéli used to release his wines under the AOC classification such as Bonnezeaux and Anjou. But he has decided to demote all of his wines to "Vin de France" status to against the INAO(Institut National des Appellations d’Origine’s) that reject to reduce the use of pesticides and decrease limit of permitted grape yields.
Since the 1960s' there has been a dramatic drop in quality in the region, much of this being caused by the AOC authorities who then authorized only certain clones and rootstocks selected for higher yields and instant profit, and the promotion of use of fertilizers, pesticides and herbicides by government. Nicolas Joly and Mark Angéli have resisted to this corruption and made a lot of effort for enlightenment.
Their movement has spread globally and number of natural wine producers who follow their path multiply year by year. However, moreover this movement is being accelerated from consumer side too, and supply is not enough to fulfill strong demand today.
Artisan growers like Mark Angéli, normally work on small vineyards, which is less than 10ha and all the work is done by family or a few workers. And their aim is not a volume but only quality, so we cannot expect more supply from one winery.
Mark Angéli knows that the only solution is increase in number of producers who have same spirits. That’s why Mark Angéli and other same-minded wine producer do a lot to encourage young newcomers to settle down in the area and start winemaking from scratch.
In spite of such high demand for high quality natural wines in recent years, Malk Angéli and his comrades try to keep bottle prices at levels that allow them to live correctly without being rich.
They are also wine drinker and they want to enjoy the wines they make, and this at prices that are affordable, that's why most of them tend to keep their prices at reach for most wine lovers. This farmer's life is also a cultural thing for them, not a way of making big money, and they like their life very much.
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