Nicolas Barbou Utopie Creative 2022

Rising star from the Loire. Nicolas Barbou worked with Jean Yves Bizot until 2021. Prior to that he was in the cellars at Boisson Vadot.

After working in Burgundy, New Zealand and completing school in Dijon, Nicolas finally decided he was ready to start his own project back home in the Loire Valley.

Nicolas describes his own project himself:

"You have here my philosophy about the world of wine. Art and wine are the superior joys of the free man. This quote from Aristotle, which sums up my ideology of the world of wine. Wine is an art. The correlation between them is the foundation of my philosophy. The second aspect is the free man. Only the free man is able to make his philosophy understood through a wine.

After watching, learning, and understanding my various adventures, I wanted to make my own wine with common sense, thoughtfulness, emotion and passion. My vision consists of a few questions- what wines do I want to make? How can my bottles become a piece of art ? How to free myself from the known?

It is in this spirit that I committed to the following, grassing between the rows, vinification in barrels and long aging. Nothing is given, I have appropriated this freedom so as not to be constrained and to be able to put my foundations in place.

That’s why my project is to make emotional wine with different varieties (Sauvignon, Chardonnay, Chenin, Gamay, Pinot Noir)."

Nicolas treats his vineyards like they are his own garden. They are given a biological approach; encouraging natural growth in their environment to promote resilience in the vines and create a sustainable ecosystem within. He commits to grassing between the rows, vinification in barrels and long aging.

• Sauvignon Blanc