The visit at Château des Vaults, Domaine du Closel in Savennières, Anjou, was extensive. Owner Evelyne de Pontbriand was our host for the whole visit. We even had lunch with her in her private dining room with Arthur Favé, chef and owner at the near-by Le Chenin (Gault&Millau 12.5/ 20).
We started out with a walk to the vineyards. We went back to the wine cellar where we had a tasting from barrel. Then, we sat down in the private library of Evelyne de Pontbriand for the aperitif with a tasting of 3 wines. The visit ended with a high-end lunch hosted by Evelyne de Pontbriand in her private dining room. The lunch will be covered in a separate posting.
Domaine du Closel in Savennières, Anjou, is represented by Louis Dressner in the USA.
Château des Vaults, Domaine du Closel in Savennières, Anjou
Domaine du Closel is located in the appellation of Savennières and produces some of the most beautiful Chenin Blanc wines. The property, the impressive Château des Vaults, was first mentioned in 1495. The château we see today was rebuilt in the 19 th century and the park was created in 1850. At that time the family of Emmanuel de Las Cases, biographe of Napoleon, inherited the château and a line of female winemakers and estate managers was born.
In 2001 Evelyne de Pontbriand, a literary scholar, who had lived and worked in the US and Germany, took over the reins. The 35 acres of vineyards are spread out on the most western hill of Savennières and the best plots are Les Caillardières and Clos du Papillon. Evelyne de Pontbriand is a lover of botanics and nature. She immediately started the conversion to organic and biodynamic viticulture and today the domain is certified organic and biodynamic by Ecocert and Demeter. Evelyn’s goal is to make wines that are expressing their origins. She says: “Thanks to grassing and plowing, the life of the soil is respected, the soil’s micro-organisms are active: oxygen comes into action allowing maximum exchanges between soil and vine. This is how we obtain the famous terrior effect: combination of soil, the precocity of its warming, plant material, and light.”
Domaine du Closel (Louis Dressner)
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.
When not making delicious wines, Evelyne enjoys pairing them with her friend's cheeses, cooking the garden’s vegetables with Loire fishes, reading, travelling to visit other vineyards, and promoting the Savennières AOC (of which she is president).
Arriving
Welcome
Walk to the Vineyards
In the Vineyards
Walk to the Cellar
Tasting in the Cellar
Walk to the Library
Aperitif in the Library
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