'Clos Durandiere' 2021
Saumur Rouge
Etienne Bodet
Earlier this year, the 2020 was our first spin with this wine and my general impression was it walks a fine line between Rougeard and Domaine do Collier, plus the Rougeard when the those are more elegant. It has the classicism of Clos Rougeard and the elegance and transparency of Collier and Guiberteau's top reds. A lot of you have purchased the Domaine du Closier wines with Rougeard's former owner Nady Foucault consulting - I'd say this is more feminine, more elegant, but with a similar purity. The perfume on the nose is gorgeous, while the palate is young but has so much potential. I'm really excited to have these and to see where these go with some bottle age!
Grape: Cabernet Franc
Terroir: This clos is surrounded by the wall of the Château de la Durandière, belonging to Etienne's family, and the neighboring forest. The vineyard is among only 20ha in Saumur with a hard Bathonian limestone bedrock from the Jurassic period, as opposed to the more typical tuffeau. The shallow topsoils (30 to 60cm) are composed of clayey sand or sandy loam with iron oxide. The vineyard is early-ripening and well-draining, with limited vigor and active limestone, and Etienne's goal here is to obtain the most ethereal and elegant wine possible.
Viticulture: Biodynamic (in official conversion), Guyot Poussard pruning, Etienne's goal is to keep yields at or below 40hl/ha.
Vinification: Ambient yeast fermentation with no added SO2, partial whole cluster inclusion (up to 35%), no punch-downs or pump-overs. Aged for a minimum of 2 years in used barrels (1 to 3 wines old), followed by another 6 months in vats and 6 months in bottle.
The Saumur based vineyard is in Montreuil-Bellay, a commune in the western Loire, located approximately 15 km to the south of Saumur proper, and is famous for the Château de Montreuil-Bellay.
The Scoop: Etienne Bodet is a native of the Saumur region, where his family owns a domaine in Montreuil-Bellay. Quite the talented winemaker, Etienne trained and still works with none other than many of the who's who in the new generation of wine makers that have recently or are currently setting the wine world ablaze with their wines!
Sylvain Pataille (Marsannay, Burgundy)
Aurélien Gerbais (Aube, Champagne)
Bernard Baudry (Chinon, Loire)
Romain Guiberteau (Saumur, Loire - also his stepfather)
Clos Rougeard (Saumur, Loire)
