Florent Thinon

Florent Thinon is one of the young growers bringing fresh energy to the Côte Roannaise, a small and rather under-the-radar wine region in the hills of the Loire Valley, just west of Lyon. He comes from a family with a long connection to vineyards, having spent his childhood helping his uncle around the vines in Villemontais. Rather than taking the traditional route straight into the family business, Florent studied viticulture and oenology in Beaune, where he gained experience with a number of respected Burgundy producers. He subsequently worked with producers including Domaine Sérol and Château Thivin in Beaujolais, giving him a particularly useful grounding in Gamay and cool-climate winemaking. In 2020 he took over his uncle's domaine and released his first vintage under his own name.

The vineyards sit on the hills overlooking the Roannais plain, within the Côte Roannaise appellation. This is an unusual corner of the Loire, where the vineyards are planted on a mixture of granite and volcanic soils, with the cooler continental climate helping to retain freshness in the grapes. Florent's main focus is Gamay Saint-Romain, a local variety related to the Gamay grown further north in Beaujolais but with its own distinct character. The vines currently cover around 7 hectares of Gamay, alongside newer plantings of Chenin Blanc. Gamay Saint-Romain tends to produce wines with particularly bright acidity, crunchy red fruit and a distinctly peppery edge, while the granite and volcanic soils bring structure and mineral character.

Farming is central to Florent's approach. The vineyards are worked organically and biodynamically, with the domaine certified organic and part of Biodyvin's biodynamic grower network. That focus on the vineyard is reflected in a deliberately simple approach in the cellar. Grapes are harvested by hand in small crates, with around 30–40% whole bunches used for fermentation depending on the wine. Fermentation takes place with indigenous yeasts in concrete tanks, allowing the fruit and the individual vineyard sites to remain at the centre of the wines. Florent's philosophy has been summed up rather neatly as doing "very little things but doing them very well", which is probably a better description of his winemaking than a long list of fashionable cellar techniques.

The wines are a particularly good demonstration of what Gamay Saint-Romain can do outside the better-known vineyards of Beaujolais. Le Rouge brings together fruit from different parcels on sand and granite, producing a juicy, energetic wine with red fruit, a subtle smoky note and fine, supple tannins. Mayençat, named after the lieu-dit where Florent's domaine is based, takes things a little further, with longer élevage and some time in barrel giving the wine additional depth and spice without burying the Gamay fruit. The wines have the freshness and drinkability you'd expect from the variety, but there is also considerably more structure than the easy-drinking reputation of Gamay might suggest.

Florent has also started expanding beyond Gamay with Chenin Blanc, including Le Crozet, planted on granite and made within the IGP Urfé rather than the Côte Roannaise appellation. The addition makes sense given his interest in expressing the character of his relatively unusual part of the Loire rather than simply following an established regional template. There is a pleasing clarity to the whole domaine: old vines and local varieties, biodynamic farming, careful hand harvesting and restrained cellar work, with the wines allowed to retain plenty of freshness and personality. Florent Thinon may still be a young vigneron, but the combination of his Burgundy and Beaujolais experience with the distinctive vineyards of the Côte Roannaise makes his wines some of the more interesting coming out of this overlooked corner of France.