DOMAINE DE LA GARRELIÈRE
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We drove south from Tours in France’s Loire Valley for about an hour to meet up with Pascale and François at their isolated vineyard: Domaine de la Garrelière. I had tasted their wines in New York and Montreal, but this was our first opportunity to see the actual vines. Unlike the rest of Touraine, this area was almost barren; we weren’t sure we were in the right place until we actually arrived, and behind their 370-year-old cellar, on the crest of an exposed hill, were their beautiful biodynamic vineyards.
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François and Pascale started farming biodynamically more than twenty-five years ago. They seem a lot more practical than most of the producers we met with. They’re humble, willing to accept mistakes, and willing to let nature dictate their decisions. They’re earnest and keep things as simple as they can. We watched freshly picked Chenin Blanc grapes roll by into the press. We pointed out botrytis on some of the grapes, and François merely lifted his shoulders and said, ‘we’re not worried’. This year, their son officially joined the team, and hopefully, one day, he’ll inherit the vineyards and carry on their legacy.
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After an inspiring tasting and tour of the ancient cellar, we left for Touraine, completely humbled and eager to drink more. We went into Jeanne Dame, a tiny, crusty wine bar with a superb selection of natural wines and local cheeses. We told the bartender where we had been, and he preached that their wines are the most consistent in the region. Over the next couple of days in France, we heard the same comment from winemakers and wine geeks all over the Loire. When in doubt, drink Domaine de la Garrelière.
MORE FROM THE LOIRE VALLEY: LAURENT SAILLARD | DOMAINE BRETON
2022 LE BLANC DE LA MARIÉE
This wine comes from three hectares of young Sauvignon Blanc vines planted 20-25 years ago. At Pascale and François's wedding, the attendees each planted a vine to commemorate the special occasion. Soils here are sand over limestone and silex. The grapes are lightly pressed into concrete, where fermentation takes several weeks. The wine is occasionally lightly filtered before bottling.
ESTIMATED RETAIL PRICE: $34.00 (AB)
CSPC: 855675 (AB)
2022 P’TIT CHENIN
This cuvée comes from Pascale & François’ youngest Chenin Blanc vines. At 5-10 years old, they’re already producing delicious fruit, but without the concentration of their older vines. The grapes are crushed, and after a short maceration period, the juice is pressed into stainless steel for fermentation. The wine is then racked into tank for a short élevage.
ESTIMATED RETAIL PRICE: $38.00 (AB), $42.00 (BC)
CSPC: 822957 (AB), 441689 (BC)
2021 LE ROUGE DES CORNUS
This wine comes from a 2.3ha plot of 20-year-old Cabernet Franc vines. Soils here are silica and limestone rich clays. The grapes are harvest mid-October, destemmed, and fermented in concrete. Extraction was extremely light, with delicate remontage over twenty dys of maceration. The wine is then pressed of for élevage in concrete. It is bottled unfined and unfiltered.
2022 CENDRILLON
This wine comes from their oldest Sauvignon Blanc vines, planted in 1979 on aeolian sand over silex. They invigorate the soils by burning the pruned canes, mixing their ashes with water, and spraying it on the vineyard. After a gentle pressing, the must settles in tank overnight before a pre-fermentation racking. 1/3 is aged in neutral 500L barrel, while the rest is in concrete.
MILLIARD D’ÉTOILES
This wine is made from equal parts Chenin Blanc and Cabernet Franc. The Chenin is harvested at full maturity, while the Cabernet Franc is harvested the morning before the rest is picked for red wine. The grapes are direct pressed, gently as to not extract colour. Once the wine reaches 18-20g of residual sugar, it is bottled with 20% reserve wine from the last vintage aged in barrel. The wine finishes fermentation in bottle and then rests on lees for an entire year before it is put into pupitre for manual disgorging. It sees no sulphur before release. 12.5% ABV
2021 GAMAY SANS TRA LA LA
This wine is the result of a study done to compare organic and conventional farming. They found much higher quantities of resveratrol, a compound that defends plants against rots and funguses, in the organic grapes. This led François to believe his grapes could withstand long maceration times without sulphur. This wine comes from 30-40-year-old Gamay vines planted on sand and silex over limestone. The clusters spend four weeks under a blanket of CO2 before being pressed off post-carbonic-maceration for completion of alcoholic fermentation and malolactic conversion. The wine is bottled without fining, filtration, or SO2.
2019 CHENIN DE LA COLLINE
This wine is made from a 3.2ha plot of 30+-year-old Chenin Blanc planted on aeolian sand over silex. This wine was made as an ode to the south-facing slope they find their vineyard on and all the equinox parties they’ve thrown on top of it. They take three passes through this vineyard to harvest each bunch at optimal ripeness. The wine ferments for several weeks in concrete tank before élevage, a light filtration, and bottling. 13.5% ABV
ESTIMATED RETAIL PRICE: $48.00 (AB), $57.00 (BC)
CSPC: 869664 (AB), 343242 (BC)
2015 LA COULÉE DOUCE CHENIN
In unusually warm and sunny vintages certain barrels don’t ferment until full drones. After two years of oxidative ageing in barrel, this special cuvée is bottled with 9g/l of residual sugar. They hold the bottles back for extended ageing in their cool cellar, waiting until perfect maturity. We tasted this wine in 2019 but Pascale didn’t believe it was ready yet, so we had to wait an additional three years.
ESTIMATED RETAIL PRICE: $43.00 (AB)
CSPC: 822955 (AB)
2018 MARQUIS DE C
This wine come from a small plot of Chardonnay planted on sand and clay over limestone. Harvested nearly a month later than the Sauvignon Blanc, yields tend to be 1/3 less. After gentle pressing the juice ferments in 500L barrels, some of which are new or quite young. No batonnage is done, but the wine does rest on its full lees until bottling. The name is a play on an old story about a peasant wearing kingly boots; read into it what you will.
