Free Wine Tasting – Domaine Mabileau

Swing by Galloway’s Wine & Beer Bar on the lower level of The Belted Goat between 1 pm – 3 pm to learn about different wines every week. Want to learn more about our weekly tastings? Check the Fearrington Village calendar for our wine events! This week: Domaine Mabileau from the Loire region, France.

Saint-Nicolas-de-Bourgueil, is the tiniest of the Cabernet Franc’s appellation of the Loire. With only 2,500 acres and 140 producers it is half the size of neighboring Chinon, and known for the most precise and delicate expression of the varietal. It is there that Frédéric, and wife Nathalie, started his eponymous estate in 1991 with only 7 acres of land mostly located on the lieu-dit “Les Rouillères,” still the name of their flagship cuvée now. For over 12 years he and his dad Jean-Paul had each their own estate, using the same vinification site. In 2003, with Jean-Paul retiring, the estate grew to 50 acres. That same year Frédéric decided to ban the use of chemicals and pesticides, started ploughing the soil, and initiated his conversion to organic that led to full certification in 2007. The Biodynamic came few years after that to be officially certified in 2018.

At the end of the summer of 2020 on a beautiful day, Frédéric suddenly passed away in a plane crash leaving his son Rémy, who was working alongside him since 2016, to take over the winery with Nathalie. 30-year-old Rémy Mabileau is now in charge of the estate. His vision is anchored in the natural wine approach following the footsteps of his father.