Pierre Plouzeau was a visionary who, in his all-too-short life, created a négociant business unlike any other while running his own domaines as well. His son Marc, who took over Château de la Bonnelière in 1999, has since converted the estate to certified organic farming and expanded onto the Left Bank with the acquisition of Domaine de la Croix Marie. Soft-spoken and gently cordial, Marc does nothing to prepare you for the scale of what he manages: a network of ancient caves whose cavernous halls are wide enough to drive a car through, and Bonnelière itself, an ancient fortress farm (his description, and an accurate one) surrounded by old vines, some over sixty years of age. Despite that scale, the range is focused rather than sprawling, built on lift and verve, exactly what we look for in serious Chinon. Marc goes from strength to strength with each passing vintage, and with only a quarter of production exported, what we bring to the U.S. is worth the attention.