Adonis Red 2020

Adonis Rouge 2020

La Grapperie

After fifteen months of barrel aging, Adonis takes on a beautiful garnet color, giving way to a complex nose of red fruits: strawberry, cherry, and more. On the palate, it offers a beautiful structure between pepper and raspberry. Spicy and peppery, with a lovely sweet, yeasty note on the attack that adds to its deliciousness. Made from 100% Pineau d'Aunis, a fiery and light grape variety, one of the oldest in the Loire Valley, Adonis comes from old vines planted in the Coteaux du Loir appellation, on soils predominantly composed of clay and flint. The harvest is hand-picked and transported by horse. After destemming and light crushing, it is fermented with indigenous yeasts. Drink as an aperitif to warm up, or serve on the table for varied and refined pairings.

To find out more

In the Coteaux du Loir appellation, La Grapperie is the name of the estate of Renaud Guettier, who can be described as a master of Chenin, but also of Pineau d'Aunis, which is one of the oldest grape varieties in the Loire Valley. His principle, he confides, 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 (on the higher ground). The 60-hectare vineyard comprises around fifteen plots. The grape varieties are the two traditionally authorized varieties in the appellation: Chenin for the whites and Pineau d'Aunis for 90% of the reds, the remainder consisting of a few ares 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 sixty to eighty years. Convinced of the enormous potential that these old vines can bring to his vintages, Renaud is meticulous in restoring the vineyard. The entire estate is cultivated organically. The soils are worked and all viticultural interventions are manual, including the harvests, 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, on indigenous yeasts, with complete malolactic fermentation, for at least eighteen months and sometimes up to thirty-six months.