Domaine de la Roche Bleue ‘Belle d’Aunis’ Coteaux-du-Loir Rouge 2019

Location: France, Loire, Coteaux-du-Loir

Winemaker: Sébastien Cornille

Grapes: Pineau d’Aunis

Soil: Clay, flint

Winemaking: Semi-carbonic maceration of whole bunches for 2 to 3 weeks in oak casks, indigenous yeasts. End of alcoholic and malolactic fermentation in 400 liter barrels of 1 to 3 wines. Aging 1 year in barrel minimum. Bottling without filtration and light sulphiting. This cuvée is not produced in all vintages, only vintages where the quality allows it.From

From us at M&L: ‘Belle d’Aunis’, in Sébastien’s words, is ‘The magnification of Pineau d'Aunis, a deep wine’. 50+ year old vines from plots in Marçon and Chahaignes. This is no light quaffer—this is rich and pulsating Pineau d’Aunis, with blackcurrant liqueur, coriander seed, star anise, and raspberry preserve. A thinker, a ponderer, a brilliant wine.

From the Importer Avant Garde: Sébastien Cornille was born in a village near Sancerre. After spending several years on the island of La Reunion (Indian Ocean) experimenting with vitis vinifera, he decided with some friends to acquire some vines in the Loire Valley. Precisely, he settled in Marçon, in the department of Sarthe, a town 30km north of Tours.

The vineyards total surface is around 6.5ha, partly in the small AOC of Jasnieres (65ha only Chenin Blanc) and the Coteaux du Loir (Chenin, Pinot d’Aunis, Gamay, Cab Franc). Since 2013, the estate is certified organic and farmed with biodynamic principles, the vineyards are actually situated in the most northern part of the Loire with soil made of chalk (tuffeau) from the Turonian era, broken down into siliceous clay on the steeper slopes.

The work in the vineyards is done by hand. The yields are around 30hl/ha. In his cellar, a troglodyte cave, Sébastien uses minimal intervention, meaning native yeast fermentation, aging in neutral barrels, no fining or filtration for the reds and if needed a light filtration for the whites. Finally, no SO2 added until bottling.