LA GRAPPERIE
Premières Tries 2023 [1.5 L]
Loire, France
This new cuvée comes from the first pick of each of Renaud’s parcels of Chenin Blanc and therefore includes vines both young and old. The grapes were pressed directly and moved to old barrels for fifteen months of élevage and here a cooler vintage has rendered a pale, delicate and nuanced expression of the grape that is incredibly compelling in its youth. Just a case of magnums made it to our shores.
Chenin Blanc
ABOUT THE PRODUCER
Renaud Guettier is based in the village of Bueil-en-Touraine in the Coteaux-du-Loir, an area which is undoubtedly one of the Loire’s great terroirs.
Renaud trained as an agronomist specialising in plant physiology and in 2004 purchased half a hectare of old vines from his stepfather. Over the past decade he has acquired old parcels of Chenin Blanc and Pineau d’Aunis bit by bit and now farms a few dozen plots across five hectares, with an average vine age of eighty years.
The terroir is a combination of clay, flint and limestone and farming is meticulous, done organically, without the use of chemicals or pesticides. Grapes are hand picked and brought to his cave in a former quarry dug into the limestone cliffs where they are fermented, pressed manually and fed by gravity to the cellar below. There they see a year or two of élevage resting in old wooden casks, something Renaud considers vital when producing wines as he does, without anything added at any stage.
Renaud produces wines of uncommon power, balance and detail that possess a remarkable ability to age.