2019 La Grapperie L'Enchanteresse
VARIETAL: Pineau d'Aunis
REGION: Loire Valley, FR
VITICULTURE: Organic
WINEMAKER: Renaud Guettier
100% Pineau d’Aunis from Renaud’s oldest vines, with the very oldest planted in 1904. Two weeks whole bunch maceration in tank, then transferred underground by gravity into old barrels. Aged for 15 months. No fining or filtration. Zero SO2.
The old vines and extended ageing means that this is more serious than some of the glou glou examples we see of Pineau d'Aunis. It is however, still light-medium in weight - just with added depth and complexity. A proper wine with a huge amount of interest. Darker red rose in colour, with lighter tinges. Amazing, haunting perfume. A deep mix of spice and wild forest berries. Almost delicate potpourri notes – very unique.
Renaud Guettier has close to 6ha of vineyards in the Coteaux-du-Loir. He is north of Tours, and about 25 minutes south of the Robinots (who he is good friends with and consults with regularly). He is the only person with vineyards in the area – many were ripped out years ago to plant other crops. He began in 2004, and works mainly with old vine Chenin Blanc and Pineau d’Aunis, with a miniscule amount of Gamay and Grolleau. He planted vines between 2005 and 2010, but most of the vines are extremely old, over 100 years in some cases. For example, Chenin planted in 1902 and Pineau d’Aunis planted in 1904. The soils are made up of clay and limestone, but particularly silex, which gives the wines an intense minerality, especially with his Chenin. He farms organically, and does everything by hand. On the side, he also farms around 100ha of organic crops such as wheat and rapeseed.
Renaud vinifies each parcel separately in his new (but very small) winery. The wines are then fed by gravity to his underground cellar, where they age in old wooden casks of various sizes. The ferments can sometimes take a year to complete, and Renaud usually prefers to age majority of his wines for around 1-2 years. These long slow ferments and long ageing contribute to both stability and complexity, making for wines of serious interest and with the potential to age long-term. All his wines are made without additions, zero sulfites, and are never fined or filtered.