The Desirée White 2018

La Désirée Blanc 2018,

La Grapperie

In the Coteaux du Loir appellation, La Grapperie is the name of Renaud Guettier's estate, which can be described as a master of Chenin, but also of Pineau d'Aunis, one of the oldest grape varieties in the Loire Valley. His principle, he explains, is "to produce complex, rich wines with good aging potential and imbued with the minerality of their terroir." The vines are located on hillsides between 60 and 120 meters above sea level, protected from the north winds by the Bercé forest. Depending on the altitude, the terroirs are dominated by clay (at the bottom of the slope), flint (mid-slope), or sand (at the top). The 60-hectare vineyard comprises around fifteen plots. The grape varieties are the two traditionally permitted in the appellation: Chenin for the whites and Pineau d'Aunis for 90% of the reds, the remainder consisting of a few acres of Côt, Gamay, and Grolleau. The average age of the vines is seventy years, including almost two hectares of century-old vines and one and a half hectares of vines aged between sixty and eighty years. Convinced of the enormous potential that these old vines can bring to his vintages, Renaud has been meticulous in restoring the vineyard. The entire estate is farmed organically. The soils are worked, and all viticultural interventions are manual, including the harvest, which is carried out at full maturity, which is reflected in the fullness and smoothness of the wines. For the reds, the Pineaux d'Aunis are partially destemmed (depending on the plot) and the macerations are quite long, three to four weeks, with punching down, to promote aging potential. The wines are aged in barrels for between twelve and twenty-four months, then racked, blended and bottled without filtration. For the whites, the Chenins are pressed directly at low pressure and then poured into barrels by gravity. Fermentation takes place in barrels, using indigenous yeasts, with complete malolactic fermentation, for at least eighteen months and sometimes up to thirty-six months.
Désirée is an all-Chenin obtained from flint clay on a limestone base at an altitude of 100 meters. The vines are between fifty and one hundred and fifteen years old. The grapes are processed by direct pressing and all the work on the juices and wines is done by gravity. Aging is twenty-four months on lees in barrels in cellars dug into the tuffeau. It is a wine that one undresses with the eye, which seduces with its nose of bitter almond, prolonged in the mouth by tenderly buttery notes, touches of white fruits and nuts, counterbalanced by a very clear acidity.