Toby Bainbridge

Toby Bainbridge has had a pretty adventurous life for a Brit. He used to work the corn harvests on his combine harvester travelling through the USA before finding a wife and relocating to the Loire to be a winemaker. After studying at the agricultural school in Anjou, he met and became friends with Didier Chaffardon who he worked with until moving on to Domaine Rene Mosse for several years. During his time with Mosse, he started to buy up small parcels of vines, starting with the Rouge Aux Lèvres, one here and one there. He listened to the advice of people around him and started buying old equipment which he fixed and used in the vineyards. He cut down on his hours at Mosse and began working part-time, making his own wine and before long he was fully out on his own. Known as a real purist, Toby works in a truly respectable way. He now disgorges his pet nats because the sediment caused it to be too volatile in the bottle - no wine can be lost!