Noella Morantin has a resumé that many natural winemakers in the Loire and across the globe would and should envy. After being bit by the winemaking bug (a professor of viticulture inspired her) she landed... Read More

Noella Morantin has a resumé that many natural winemakers in the Loire and across the globe would and should envy. After being bit by the winemaking bug (a professor of viticulture inspired her) she landed an internship with Rene and Agnes Mosse in Anjou. Shortly thereafter she was hired to run the now defunct Touraine estate Les Bois Lucas.

It was at this estate that she became friends and collaborators with her neighbor Didier Barrouillet of the famous (and also now defunct) Clos Roche Blanche. In 2008 Didier began to downsize the estate and Noella was able to start leasing some vines to make her own wine. From there it was a pretty fast rocket ship to natural wine stardom.

Noella’s wines have always been about freshness and exuberance. They mirror her own sunny personality, full of life and vivacity. A decade after she began her own label the world of natural wine has expanded exponentially, hitting shelves and lists all over the U.S., and even getting full write ups in glossy food and wine magazines. But the Morantin wines remind us why we fell in love with the category to begin with.