Your Cart is Empty
Sold Out
Loire Valley, France
Covering a continuous parcel of two hectares, the Clos de l'Écotard has only ever been ploughed by horse and the farming has been organic since day one. The first six harvests from this site were vinified by Germain and sold alongside his Roches Neuves portfolio. 2017 was the first vintage bottled by the newly formed Domaine and was released alongside a second wine from the same vineyard (Les Pentes). Fermentation began in stainless steel tank, then mid-way through the ferment, the juice was racked into a mixture of foudre and 500-litre demi-muid. Following 10 months on lees, the wine was then bottled unfiltered. Full-bodied, deeply textured and slightly phenolic, flavours of white fruit, ripe pear and wet rock are balanced by a taut line of invigorating acidity, with salty minerals lingering on the resonant finish. Lobster rolls are the perfect match here.
Varietal / Blend: Chenin Blanc
Decant: Not necessary
Closure: Cork
Farming Practices: Organic
Michel Chevré wasThierry Germain’s vineyard lieutenant—his right arm, and one who had been present since the domaine’s first release in 1992. By mid-2017, Chevre was in a place to part ways with his old friend and establish his own small family estate. The following year—now joined by his son Thibaud—the newly formed three-hectare domaine would offer its first three cuvées of Saumur Blanc. Covering two of those hectares, Clos de l’Écotard has continued as the family’s emblematic cuvée. This parcel was densely planted between 2009 and 2013 with a range of vine material, including massale selections from the vineyards of François Chidaine. This cuvée was joined by a single-foudre selection called Les Pentes, drawn from vines rooted in the rockiest, limestone enriched parcel in the top, north-east corner of the Clos. A third bottling, La Haie Nardin, originates from a small parcel of 50-year-old vines that has been owned and farmed by the family since 1996.
