Domaine de la Bergerie: Wines
As the run-down of appellations suggests, the wines here are many. The winemaking varies somewhat from one cuvée to the next, and so I will not make general comments but simply get on with my run-down of the wines.
There are numerous cuvées of white and red Anjou here, and although in my experience the white wines tend to pale in the shadows cast by Yves’ two Savennières cuvées the red wines can be, at the upper end, very exciting. Beginning with two white wines first, the range opens with the Anjou Blanc Sous la Tonnelle, early incarnations of which were a blend of 80% Chenin Blanc and 20% Chardonnay, the former originating from a schistose terroir and the latter from sandy soils. In more recent vintages, however, this is 100% Chenin Blanc, and I suspect the Chardonnay is channelled into Crémant de Loire instead. The fruit is sourced from vines in La Bergerie in Champ-sur-Layon and La Girardière in Rablay-sur-Layon; it is hand-picked and then fermented en cuve before bottling during the spring after the harvest. It is a no-nonsense cuvée clearly intended for uncomplicated drinking.
The cuvée Sous la Tonnelle is the only dry white to be blended from more than one terroir, while Les Pierres Girard and the rest of the portfolio are cuvées parcellaires, representing a single parcel and terroir. This latter wine is also 100% Chenin Blanc from schistose soils in La Bergerie in Champ-sur-Layon, picked by hand, with fermentation and élevage in oak barrel, on the lees, for up to twelve months.
