Chimère Blanche NV – Côme Isambert

Côme Isambert established himself as a négoce winemaker back in 2015 after having left Clos Cristal, the legendary biodynamic domaine with walled vineyards founded by Antoine Cristal and run by Hospice de Saumur since it was given to them by Cristal in 1928. However, in 2015 the hospital board decided to sell off the historic vineyards and as an homage to the site and the people (and animals) who had been working there, Côme decided to buy whatever was left in the cellar and release it under his own name in the years to come. In that same period Côme got the opportunity to take over an enormous subterranean cave system on the outskirts of Saumur that had been used for cultivating Champignon de Paris but had been abolished. And this is where Côme continues to make his wines to this day, buying grapes from organic and biodynamic producers in Saumur and fruit from Normandy. Côme has an experimental and openminded approach to natural winemaking and makes beautiful wines. Since 2018 he has been organising the cider and fruit pet nat festival called Tour de Fruit in collaboration with Fruktstereo and he is truly one of the winemakers who have been pushing the boundaries of natural winemaking in recent years by breaking down the distinction between wine, cider and fruit pét-nat.