Introducing Clos Thierrière, 2023
It is always a delight to meet newly arrived vignerons, especially in prestigious appellations such as Vouvray. Even more so when you get two for the price of one; Clos Thierrière, in Vouvray, is the only domaine I know in the Loire Valley – or indeed anywhere – to be run by twins.
The twins responsible are Baptiste and Guillaume Frey (pictured). Born in Amboise in 1997, they studied in Reims and Paris, after which they found themselves contemplating their futures. Graduating first, Guillaume found he was not drawn to a career at a desk in the city, and he returned to his native Touraine. Although a grandfather had worked as an agriculteur theirs was not a winemaking family, and it was perhaps mere fate that led Guillaume to work a harvest down in Anjou in 2020. Thus the seed was sown; Guillaume decided he would be a vigneron, and in 2021 he took over a domaine on the very periphery of the commune of Vernou-sur-Brenne. Within a year Baptiste found himself skipping classes (with permission, I’m sure) in order to help his brother during the harvest, and it was not long before the twins joined forces in the running of the domaine.
The Vines
The brothers have 12 hectares of vines, most of which are situated either side of the Rue Neuve and are thus well back from the première côte in Vernou-sur-Brenne, which is east of the commune of Vouvray. There is a small parcel near the première côte, though, just above Vincent Carême’s Le Clos.
