Benjamin Taillandier did not grow up on a winery or even a farm. He simply loved wine, enough to enroll at viticulture school in Montpellier in 2002 where he learned to make wine and friends among the ever-expanding natural wine community. After working for his mentor Jean-Baptiste Senat for a spell, he planted vines of his own in 2007 in his home village Caunes-Minervois. Taillandier’s approach is relatively simple and unadorned; biodynamic farming and gentle, patient work in the cellar, informed by his other job running a local restaurant. He wants to make wine he can enjoy over a meal with his friends. If this sounds too wholesome to be true, wait till you try the wine! The Laguzelle is a blend of traditional Minervois ingredients Syrah and Grenache, but the result is anything but. This is a low alcohol, feathery light red with aromas of bing cherry, fresh raspberry, sage and tarragon and mint and dusty earth. The palate gives cranberry crunch, cherry zip and lime zest with incandescent acidity and cloud-like texture before the finish like a whip snap of cranberry and sage. Serve in the sunshine with everything in the picnic basket or on the charcuterie board.