When Laurent Lebled found himself out of a job after 30+ years as a wood merchant, wine wasn't exactly the first thing on his mind. The 2008 recession had hit hard, and without any other prospects in the wood industry, it looked like he was flat out of luck. Fortunately, two childhood friends would help him find a new path in a direction he never would have expected.

Those two friends just happen to be Sébastien Bobinet and Patrick Corbineau. These two are the equivalent of what counts as superstars in natural wine circles. Despite Lebled not coming from a wine family, having no vineyards to inherit, and having never spent a day working in vines or a cellar, Sébastien somehow knew that a life in the vines would be a perfect fit for Laurent. Initially, he was a bit reticent, but Sébastien promised he would show him how to do everything. It seemed like a long-shot, but Laurent took the plunge and in 2009 joined Sébastian in his cellar.

After a few vintages under his belt, Laurent knew it was time to start his own estate. First things first, he had to find some vines and a cellar. Laurent had always been a fan of the Touraine AOC, and through his well connected friends was able to find a little over 4 acres of vines and a cellar to rent in the commune of Saint-Aignan. Shortly after the contract for the vines was signed, the proprietor of the cellar backed out, forcing Laurent to improvise. On very short notice, he was able to find a spot in Savigny-en-Véron, over an hour away from the vines in Saint-Aignan. Though far from ideal, Laurent moved things forward by renting an additional 1.25 acres of Cabernet Franc on sandy soils right by his newly acquired cellar while continuing to rent the Saint-Aignan land.

Laurent now fully helms the operation, producing sulfur-free, carbonically macerated reds. One noteworthy particularity is that he lets his macerations go a full 30 days (a "typical" full carbonic maceration lasts 12 to 15 days), instilling the wines with and grounding earthiness often lacking in many of the fruity carbonic gulpers made in the same style. Whites are made the same method but with a shorter maceration time of 12-14 days thus all are of the skin- contact variety.

Laurent’s wines are a common sight at natural wine bars in Europe but they are hard to find stateside. One of the last bottles some of us had before the world shut down in 2020 was his ‘Hou La La’ at Septime La Cave in Paris. We loved the earthiness with just a touch of funk but what really blew us away was a pureness of fruit and a level of complexity we were not expecting.

Laurent may be the first in his family to grow and make wines commercially but it looks like this may be the beginning of a dynasty. His daughter is crafting lovely natural wines as well and when they are available we will proudly stock them