Domaine de Closel: Wines
Although a number of estates based in and around the Savennières appellation obviously focus exclusively on Savennières, a number do not. Here at Domaine du Closel the portfolio embraces many styles, including sparkling wines, red, rosé and at one time even a cuvée made using Verdelho, all presented alongside the much-anticipated Savennières.
Vinification changed under Evelyne’s direction. Perhaps the biggest change was a greater focus on the timing of the harvest, aiming for a low-yield crop which is ripe but free of botrytis, easier said than done anywhere in Anjou. The work in the cellars has also evolved greatly though. Up to the 2004 vintage, the élevage was in cuve, but thereafter it has been in barrel. Evelyne started buying second-hand barrels from Bonneau de Martray in Burgundy, and in subsequent years trialled others from the forests of Allier and Vosges, the latter not finding favour. She eventually settled on barrels from Taransaud, and she now buys new demi-muids each year to replenish her stock. As a rule the length of time in barrel has also increased, from 12 months up to 18 or 24 months, although I note in some very recent vintages it is back at 12 months again.
For the Clos du Papillon the harvest is typically 20-25 hl/ha, picked by hand typically in four tries, the fruit pressed followed by a slow fermentation of the juice in demi-muids effected by the indigenous yeasts. This is followed by an élevage in the barrels for up to two years, with bâtonnage. The wine gets a dose of sulphur dioxide before bottling, but the approach to sulphites also changed under Evelyne’s direction. Facilitated, she once told me, by all the other changes made in the vineyard and cellar, she was able to reduce her use of sulphites to a low dose.
