Bruno Cormerais: Vineyards
The domaine is located on the banks of the Maine, opposite the little town of Aigrefeuille-sur-Maine. With Clisson a stone’s throw away in one direction (directly to the east) and Château-Thébaud in another (not quite directly north), it will perhaps come as no surprise that this is granite country (Clisson and Château-Thébaud being two of the new crus communaux, both of which feature their own, distinctive form of granite). Indeed, Clisson plays a pivotal role within the Cormerais portfolio, as Bruno has been bottling a Granite de Clisson (now, with the new cru communal regulations, simply named Clisson) for over a decade. The Clisson granite is harder, less friable and holds less water than the Château-Thébaud granite, and I suspect it gives a slightly firmer style as a result.
Today there remains approximately 30 hectares of vines here. The vast majority of this is naturally given over to Melon de Bourgogne, although as is quite common – although it is often not well publicised – there is also a significant area dedicated to Gros Plant du Pays Nantais, otherwise known as Folle Blanche, as well as other varieties which are bottled as IGP wines. The domaine is rich in old vines (as evinced by the presence of a very convincing Vieilles Vignes cuvée), as while the average age of the vines across the entire domaine is 30 years there are some plots aged over 70 years.
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