Joost de Villebois
France
A labour of love...for a love lorn Dutchman!
- A real team effort, funding from Angel customers and Joost's hard work have made these wines his best yet.
- And as a 'thank you' for your support, Joost's prices have stayed the same. Meaning, this year, you get better wines for your dough.
- Joost knows how to preserve the heritage of the Loire region while catering to new world consumers. He's highlighting all the best parts of French whites!
Vineyard Location
Joost de Villebois's Story
Joost de Villebois's Story
"I grew up with wine and wine was very much a part of my household. I decided at a very young age, 18, that I not only wanted to drink wine, but I wanted to make it myself too.
I went on to study at the wine faculty at the University of Bordeaux, where I started to learn the tricks of the trade. My first proper wine business was in 1996, when I bought a farmhouse in the Loire area, and started to make two barrels of wine a year.
Being as green as possible in my vineyards is very important to me. We try and use a very limited number of 'products' in the fields.
We also green harvest in order to optimize the quality of the grapes and minimize production per hectare. Finally, we use a technique called 'effeuillage' the reduction of leaves to increase the sun and light exposure of the grapes.
We have a great team here at Villebois, with Thierry Merlet as our principal winemaker.
My proudest moment as a winemaker? When well known Dutch Wine Journalist (Hubrecht Duijker) spoke of our Sauvignon Blanc as an 'absolute dream of a white wine'.
