schiller-wine: Vineyard Tour and Salon Tasting at Château des Vaults, Domaine du Closel in Savennières, Anjou

Wednesday, November 5, 2025

Vineyard Tour and Salon Tasting at Château des Vaults, Domaine du Closel in Savennières, Anjou - Loire Valley 2025 by ombiasy WineTours

The Loire Tour 2025 by ombiasy WineTours took place from Sunday, October 5 to Thursday, October 16, 2025. The tour started in Nantes and ended in Sancerre, with a bus transfer and lunch in Paris. There were 9 of us including Annette and myself.

This morning we explored the AOP Savennières appellation.

The fact that great Chenin Blanc, bursting with power, depth, elegance, and freshness, are produced in Savennières, just a bit south of Angers, is not on everyone’s radar. These wines compete with the great Chardonnays of Burgundy. The reputation comes from some seriously strict regulations in the AOP Savennières concerning vinification: Chenin Blanc is the only grape allowed in the region, harvesting must be by hand, and mandatory low yields guarantee optimal flavor and ripeness in each grape.

Following:

Introduction in the Courtyard, Cellar Tour, Tasting and Bottling at Domaine Loïc Mahé, with Loïc Mahé - Loire Valley 2025 by ombiasy WineTours

we went to Château des Vaults, Domaine du Closel in Savennières, Anjou.

Last time, 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).

This time, things were a bit different because Evelyne de Pontbriand passed away last year. Under the circumstances, the future of the estate is unclear.

We started out with a walk to the vineyards and sat down in the private library of Evelyne de Pontbriand for a tasting.

Domaine du Closel in Savennières, Anjou, is represented by Louis Dressner in the USA.

Pictures:

Vineyard Tour, Barrel Tasting and Salon Tasting at Château des Vaults, Domaine du Closel in Savennière, Anjou, with Owner/ winemaker Evelyne de Pontbriand - Loire Valley 2024 by ombiasy WineTours

In the Private Dining Room: Wine-pairing Lunch at Château des Vaults, Domaine du Closel in Savennières, Anjou, with Owner/ Winemaker Evelyne de Pontbriand and Owner/ Chef Arthur Favé of Restaurant Le Chenin in Savennières - Loire Valley 2024 by ombiasy WineTours

Loire 2025 by ombiasy WineTours led by Annette Schiller

Annette Schiller in her announcement: What comes to your mind when you hear ‘Loire Valley’? Of course images of glorious Châteaux pop up in your mind. Yes that is true and we will visit some iconic château and dig deep into France’s history. However, during this wine tour we also discover a magnificent, but often overlooked French wine region and one of the most exciting best kept secrets of excellent, high quality wines at very reasonable prices. The Loire Valley wine region is a vast area and consists of several distinct wine regions, each with its own characteristic grapes, appellations, and wine style. We take you on a journey from the Atlantic Ocean to the Auvergne mountains to explore this unique region. We learn to appreciate “Sancerre”, "Pouilly-Fumé", “Vouvray", “Chinon”, as well as many other not so familiar appellations.

Château des Vaults, Domaine du Closel in Savennières, Anjou

Domaine du Closel is located right in the center of the cute village 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 19th century and the park was created in 1850. At that time the family of Emmanuel de Las Cases, biograph 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 was a lover of nature and botanics. 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.” We had the tremendous pleasure to meet her last year when she showed us her vineyards, gave us an in-depth lecture on biodynamic winemaking and agriculture and shared a fantastic wine pairing lunch with us in her private quarters.

Evelyn died of a heart attack on her 74th birthday in 2024. I am very sad: I was soooo much looking forward to seeing her again on this tour. She was an impressive personality.

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.

Evelyne passed unexpectedly in November 2024, mere months after our last visit with her. For decades, she shaped the very existence of Louis/Dressner tours in the Loire and the USA. Incredibly funny, sharp, intelligent and always full of life, energies and ideas, she left Closel, the Loire and our lives a better place. For that: Merci Evelyne!

While there is much still to define going forward, Closel continues today through the de Pontbriand family, with Eveylne’s sons and daughters at the helm.

Arriving