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Jérôme Lambert

Le Zu de Fruit Grolleau 2019

Price: $35.95
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Tasting notes

Grolleau almost never gets treated this seriously — whole-bunch fermented, zero additions, nine months in glass, and it delivers fresh cherry, forest floor, and a peppery snap that makes it hard to put down. The sandy schist soils of Rablay-sur-Layon keep the body lean and the acidity alive, which is exactly what this grape needs to shine.

BodyFruitTanninAcidity
CherryRaspberryEarthBlack Pepper
  • Style: Light-bodied red; bright ruby; cherry, raspberry, earth, and pepper; 12% ABV; no added sulfites
  • Grapes & Terroir: 100% Grolleau; organic; light sandy schistose soils; Rablay-sur-Layon, southern Anjou; Vin de France
  • Winemaking: Hand-harvested; whole-bunch native yeast fermentation ~2 weeks; 9 months in fiberglass vats; unfined, unfiltered, zero additions
  • Serving: Serve at 55-58F; no decant needed; drink now through 2024
  • Pairing: Charcuterie, rillettes, roast chicken, Loire goat cheese, mushroom dishes
  • Similar To: For fans of Gamay and Beaujolais who want something leaner and more savory

Le Zu de Fruit is a 100% Grolleau red wine grown on the light, sandy, schistose soils of southern Anjou near Rablay-sur-Layon. Because Grolleau is barred from all red wine AOCs in the Loire, the wine is labeled Vin de France — a classification that frees Lambert to vinify it as a serious, unfined, unfiltered red rather than the off-dry rosé the grape is usually destined for.

Grapes are hand-harvested and fermented as whole bunches for approximately two weeks using only native yeasts. After pressing, the wine rests for nine months in fiberglass vats with no additions of any kind — no fining agents, no filtration, no added sulfites. The result is a wine that is transparent about its origins: bright ruby color, lively red-fruit character, and a distinctly earthy, peppery undercurrent that reflects the sandy schist soils.

On the palate, Le Zu de Fruit is light to medium in body with high natural acidity, low tannins, and flavors of fresh cherry, raspberry, and forest floor, with a subtle spice note typical of Grolleau on sandy ground. It is made to be drunk with a slight chill, more in the spirit of a Beaujolais Villages than a structured Loire red.

Serve slightly chilled at around 55-58F alongside charcuterie, rillettes, or a simple roast chicken. The high acidity and low tannins also make it a natural match for fresh Loire Valley goat cheese like Sainte-Maure de Touraine. It works well with earthy lentil dishes or mushroom-based preparations where you want freshness rather than weight.

Wine details

Dry/Sweet:, Dry
Wine Type:, Red Wine
Wine Style:, Light Body
Grapes:, Grolleau
Farming:, Organic
Vintage:, 2019
Alcohol:, 12%
Country:, France
Region:, Loire Valley
Appellation:, Vin de France
Bottle Size:, 750ml
Sugar Level:, Zero Added Sugar

We will process and ship your order in 2-3 business days, you will receive a shipping confirmation email with tracking as soon as the Carrier scans the shipping label.

Ground shipping time depends on location, here's a breakdown:

West Coast: 1-2 business days
Midwest: 3-4 business days
East Coast: 5 business days

Process time is not shipping time. Shipping time starts from the days successive to the day of shipping, after the order has been processed.

See here our shipping policy.


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If you'd like to receive a refund for a package that was returned to us after FedEx made three delivery attempts, we can do that but we must keep a $20 refund fee; FedEx charges us a lot of money for returns, unfortunately, I can't stress this enough.


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If you are not satisfied with your purchase, please contact us at (424) 414-2040 or via e-mail at hello@primalwine.com between 9 am and 5 pm Pacific Standard Time, Monday through Sunday, we would like to understand and try to solve your concerns. We can offer refunds only as store credit.

Producer profile

Jérôme Lambert

Jérôme Lambert was born in Rablay-sur-Layon in the south of Anjou and is the son of a winemaker. He began making wine as an amateur in 2003, initially getting hands-on experience by helping with pruning at the domaine of Philippe Cesbron and sourcing small quantities of grapes from neighboring growers. He started selling wine commercially in 2008. For years he worked part-time outside the domaine to remain financially independent, which allowed him to hold back difficult vintages and release wines only when he was satisfied with them.

Lambert now farms approximately four to four and a half hectares spread across small parcels in Rablay-sur-Layon, Thouarcé, Faye d'Anjou, and Champ-sur-Layon. He has farmed organically from the start. The Chenin Blanc parcels sit on schist and slate, with vines up to fifty years old. The Grolleau and Cabernet Franc parcels are planted on lighter, sandy soils — a distinct contrast in terroir that produces wines of finesse and easy drinkability. Lambert also raises chickens, pigs, and sheep on the property, and the mixed farming model is central to how he manages the land.

In the cellar, Lambert uses no additives of any kind — no sulfites, no fining agents, no filtration. He made the decision to work without sulfur additions in 2003 and has not deviated from it. For Le Zu de Fruit, hand-harvested Grolleau is fermented whole-bunch with native yeasts for approximately two weeks, then pressed off and aged for nine months in fiberglass vats before bottling. No oak is used at any stage. The wine goes to bottle unfined and unfiltered.

Wine region

Loire Valley, France

Anjou sits in the western Loire Valley in the Maine-et-Loire department, centered on the Layon River, a southern tributary of the Loire. The area known as Anjou Noir — covering communes including Rablay-sur-Layon, Faye d'Anjou, Thouarcé, and Champ-sur-Layon — takes its name from the dark schist and schistose-sandstone soils that dominate the hillsides. The climate is temperate oceanic, generally dry during the growing season, with morning mists from the river valleys and south-facing slopes that accumulate heat. Around Rablay-sur-Layon, the Layon River has carved gentle slopes that are sheltered from cold northern winds, creating a mesoclimate favorable to slow, even ripening.

Anjou's flagship appellations — Coteaux du Layon, Bonnezeaux, and Quarts de Chaume Grand Cru — are all devoted to sweet and off-dry Chenin Blanc, which thrives on the schistose soils and benefits from botrytis encouraged by morning river mists. Grolleau is the third most planted red variety in the Loire after Cabernet Franc and Gamay, but AOC regulations restrict it exclusively to rosé wines; any red wine made from Grolleau must be labeled under the IGP or Vin de France designation. On the lighter, sandier parcels of southern Anjou, low-intervention producers like Jérôme Lambert are demonstrating that Grolleau, when yields are controlled and nothing is added in the cellar, produces genuinely expressive light reds with bright acidity and distinct terroir character.

Frequently asked question

We will process and ship your order in 2-3 business days, you will receive a shipping confirmation email with tracking as soon as the Carrier scans the shipping label.

Ground shipping time depends on location, here's a breakdown:

West Coast: 1-2 business days
Midwest: 3-4 business days
East Coast: 5 business days

Process time is not shipping time. Shipping time starts from the days successive to the day of shipping, after the order has been processed.

See here our shipping policy.

Signature on delivery is mandatory for wine deliveries. Please make sure someone is at the shipping address to sign for the package.

If applicable, please consider delivering the package to a business address to ensure someone is available to sign for the package.

We also have the option of delivering the package to a Carrier's store for pickup. Please reach out to us to coordinate.

Carrier will try to delivery a package up to three times before returning the package to us.

See here our shipping policy.

If you miss a delivery and a package gets returned to us we have two options:

1) Reship the package right away: due to the very high cost of shipping and returns, we must charge a re-shipping fee to be determined based on package size and shipping destination.

2) Consolidate the returned package with your next order: this option is free of charge and it's the most popular option.

See here our shipping policy.

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