Anne, Françoise and their brother Joseph Hacquet were siblings from Beaulieu-Sur-Loire, and the reclusive heroes of the modern natural wine movement. Had it not been for a significant moment in 1998, they would have been the forgotten ones as well.
That moment happened when they were in their sixties, deeply discouraged. Ignorant of the nascent organic and natural movement developing at the time, they believed themselves to be the last farmers on earth who cared about soil. Stubbornly, Joseph had already ripped out old gorgeous chenin, rather than lease them to others who would work them with chemicals. Even the few remaining rows were slated for destruction. But then a miracle happened. While working in those surviving vines, they looked over to a neighboring parcel and saw two young, scruffy men working nearby.