Jean-Paul Versino is doing stellar work in his vineyards and making superbly concentrated Châteauneufs. Both the regular cuvée and the Cuvée Felix are outstanding examples of the appellation.

Versino has only old vines and some 40 parcels spread out all over the AOC. Only a portion of the crop is bottled, with a large amount still going to négociants. This allows Jean-Paul to keep only best of the domaine for their bottlings -- whether it is the regular cuvée or the Felix.

As much as we try to have wines that are disliked by the press, this wine consistently gets rave reviews from America’s most important wine writer.

We, thusly, do not have to promote the wines but merely have to allocate them.

Wouldn’t life be simpler if we had a smaller Loire Valley book?