2020 Domaine du Closel Savennieres "Les Caillardieres" Loire Valley, France

ABOUT THIS WINE

100% Chenin Blanc. From certified-biodynamic estate vines in the Les Caillardières vineyard, which lies on the plateau of Savennières on silky-textured, very poor soils of sand and schist. These 45-year-old vines are harvested by hand 10 days after the earliest-picked wine, La Jalousie, when the grapes are a little past just-ripe, having taken on deeper, riper, richer flavor tones (and still no botrytis, never a part of any Closel wine). The bunches are gently direct-pressed, followed by a spontaneous fermentation to dryness with native yeasts and without sulfur in 420-liter demi-muids, which are around 10% new. The wine generally goes through malo and is aged in the same barrels on the fine lees for 18 months without bâtonnage. Bottled unfiltered with a modest amount--its first dose--of sulfur. The 2020 finished with 2.1 grams/liter of residual sugar and 3.26 grams/liter of acidity. Total yield was just 20 hl/ha. 

ABOUT THIS PRODUCER

Château des Vaults in Savennières dates back to 1495, and was inherited by Michèle de Jessey in 1962 from her childless aunt Madame du Closel. Michèle and Jacques de Jessey turned the small family estate into Domaine du Closel. The entire vineyard is located on the most western hill of Savennières and includes some of the best parcels in the AOC: Les Caillardières and Clos du Papillon. The topsoil is shallow, very warm and consists of purple/green schist and sandstone enriched with volcanic rocks (quartz, phtanites, ryolites and spilites) in the best areas.

Evelyne de Pontbriand, Michèle and Jacques' daughter, took over the estate in 2001 after a first career of teaching French literature to adults all over the world. As a lover of botanics and nature, she quickly adopted organic viticulture, which continues to be an experimental learning process. She is constantly searching for cultural practices best adapted to the austere terroirs of Savennières and has deeply changed vinification practices in the cellar. Vinification is done very naturally and with indigenous yeasts; sulfites are only added in tiny doses when needed. The wines are raised on lees from 12 to 26 months. The rhythm of fermentation is always respected.

Today the entire estate has been converted to organic and biodynamic practices in order to best express the different terroirs, each producing unique, original and delicious wines. With the help of a Belgian geologist Valerie Closset, all of her parcels have been inventoried and analysed to understand them better (which ultimately led to each cuvée sharing the name of the parcel it came from). A lot of energy has recently been focused on understanding and dealing with fungal illness in the vines. For esca, replacements are done in two phases: the first consists of planting the rootstock. 
About two years later, a selection massale of Chenin is grafted from a healthy vine. New plantations are done with material from Lilian Berillon, the first and only organic pépinieriste in the world. 

The other experiments have focused on pruning: new plantations are pruned in the ancient style of gobelet, allowing the vine to grow bunches all around and have more exposure to sun and wind. Instead of being cut, the growing branches are now gently wrapped around the top wire. Evelyne believes that foliage thinning is traumatic to the vines, as leaves are the plant's vital organs. She has quickly noticed a change in the aromatic palate of the wines. Much focus has also been dedicated to soil work. Different plants, such as cereals and cloves, have been used as green fertilizers; the idea is to let indigenous vegetation grow in order to reestablish an authentic biodiversity in order to help fight insects and pests.