Le Batossay Marie Rosé

Grolleau Gris is a typical variety of the Loire Valley in northwestern France. This grape is a mutation of the Grolleau, another red variety that is also grown particularly in this area. Some love it, and others prefer to uproot their vines. What is true is that the Grolleau, which derives from the French word Grolle, meaning crow, has been especially used for the production of rosés, particularly in the Anjou region.

It became popular at the end of the 20th century with the commercialisation of Rosé d'Anjou, a wine that ended up losing prestige to Cabernet Franc and Cabernet Sauvignon. However, today, there are winegrowers who continue to champion this variety, like Baptiste Cousin, who makes Le Batossay Marie Rosé, a rosé made exclusively with this variety. In the case of Baptiste, son of Olivier Cousin (the well-known winemaker of natural wines), the vineyards he works with are of a certain age.

These vines were inherited from his father, who planted them in 1992. In total, there are over 86 hectares cultivated biodynamically: this is manual and completely artisan work, ploughing with horses and biodynamic preparations (without added sulphur) to treat the dangers of spring frosts and autumn mildew. These principles, together with the black-loam soils with limestone, produce wines with great concentration and minerality.

Le Batossay Marie Rosé is harvested by hand. The grapes are taken to the winery in small boxes transported on horseback, and once they get there, they are handled as little as possible. Avoiding machinery, only using his grandfather’s vertical press, Baptiste Cousin uses gravity to move the must. Following fermentation, which is carried out naturally using native yeasts, Le Batossay Marie Rosé will be aged in vats. Finally it is bottled by hand in the domaine itself, without being filtered or clarified and avoiding the use of sulphur.