Domaine Ogereau Clos des Bonnes Blanches Anjou 2024

‘Clos des Bonnes Blanches’ is a historic vineyard in the village of Saint-Lambert, close to the Ogereau winery. A brittle schist subsoil here allows the vine roots to delve deep, while clay topsoil rich in quartz gravel limits vine vigour. Emmanuel puts a big emphasis on increasing the organic matter of the soils, working with cover crops, ploughing between the vine rows and grazing a herd of sheep in the vineyards over the winter. Frost and botrytis are common in the Layon Valley, so the vines here are trained high on trellises to encourage airflow.

Upon arrival at the winery, the early-harvested Chenin was rigorously sorted to ensure that no botrytised berries made it into the winery. The bunches were then whole bunch pressed, with the first and last of the press juice discarded as Emmanuel believes that Chenin grown on darker soils can have an overly phenolic character if not handled carefully. Fermentation with indigenous yeasts took place in a mixture of used 400-litre oak barrels, and 20-hectolitre Stockinger foudres. Malolactic fermentation was blocked to preserve the wine’s linear precision and minerality. After around 11 months ageing on the lees, the final blend was assembled, filtered and bottled.