Bourgueil and Saint-Nicolas-de-Bourgueil estate of 20 hectares, organic since 2007, with parcel-bottled Cabernet Francs across both appellations.
Signature wines: amirault-la-petite-cave, amirault-la-source, amirault-les-malgagnes
Tip: Les Malgagnes in Saint-Nicolas and La Petite Cave in Bourgueil are the long-ageing flagships.
Address: 1 Route du Moulin Bleu, 37140 Bourgueil, France, Loire Valley
Restigne family estate going back 14 generations, 38 hectares of Demeter-certified biodynamic Cabernet Franc with extensive parcel-bottling and a maze of tuffeau cellars.
Tasting: Visits and tastings at the cellar; underground tuffeau cave open to visitors
Signature wines: chevalerie-galichets, chevalerie-chevalerie, chevalerie-busardieres
Tip: The cellars house bottles dating back more than a century; book a vertical tasting of the Galichets cuvee.
Restigne family estate going back 14 generations, 38 hectares of Demeter-certified biodynamic Cabernet Franc with extensive parcel-bottling and a maze of tuffeau cellars.
Tasting: Visits and tastings at the cellar; underground tuffeau cave open to visitors
Signature wines: chevalerie-galichets, chevalerie-chevalerie, chevalerie-busardieres
Tip: The cellars house bottles dating back more than a century; book a vertical tasting of the Galichets cuvee.
Soings-en-Sologne family estate of 58 hectares mainly Gamay and Sauvignon, with 5.5 hectares of franc-de-pied (ungrafted) plantings and the 200-year-old Provignage Romorantin vine.
Tasting: Visits and tastings at the Domaine de la Charmoise; one of the few growers with ungrafted parcels
Signature wines: marionnet-premiere-vendange, marionnet-vinifera, marionnet-provignage
Tip: Provignage is bottled from a 200-year-old plot of ungrafted pre-phylloxera Romorantin vines at Domaine de la Charmoise (one of the few documented pre-phylloxera plots in France).
Monopole Savennieres-Coulee de Serrant, the seven-hectare Chenin Blanc walled vineyard biodynamic since 1984 under Nicolas Joly, France's biodynamic apostle.
Tasting: Monday-Saturday 9-12, 14-17:30; tastings without reservation; closed Sundays and French holidays
Signature wines: joly-coulee-de-serrant, joly-clos-de-la-bergerie, joly-les-vieux-clos
Tip: The wine needs 3-5 hours of aeration (or a year in bottle) to open; tasting at the domaine is the only way to see it served correctly.
Rochefort-sur-Loire family domaine farming key plots in Savennieres (Clos du Papillon) and Quarts de Chaume Grand Cru, with bottlings going back five centuries of family history.
Tasting: Visits and tastings by appointment at the Rochefort-sur-Loire cellar
Signature wines: baumard-clos-du-papillon, baumard-quarts-de-chaume, baumard-clos-sainte-catherine
Tip: Quarts de Chaume from Baumard, drunk after 20-30 years, is honey, quince and chalk in a glass.
Savennieres-based estate uniting the historic Chateau de Chamboureau (former Pierre Soulez property) with Anjou holdings under Philippe Fournier, biodynamic and organic across 65 hectares.
Tasting: Visits and tastings at Chateau de Chamboureau by appointment
Signature wines: fl-savennieres-chamboureau, fl-savennieres-le-parc
Tip: Le Parc is the single-vineyard Savennieres; Chamboureau is the historic monopole anchored in the 13th-century chateau.
Beaulieu-sur-Layon family estate of 53 hectares across Coteaux du Layon, Quarts de Chaume Grand Cru and Savennieres, with the Les Rouannieres moelleux as the flagship.
Tasting: Monday-Saturday 10-12, 14-16:45, closed Sundays
Signature wines: pierre-bise-les-rouannieres, pierre-bise-quarts-de-chaume, pierre-bise-clos-de-coulaine
Tip: Les Rouannieres is the estate's flagship Coteaux du Layon Beaulieu cuvée from the south-facing schist slopes above the Layon tributary.
