Vine Revival, 2016 Update
I have in fact revisited this increasingly renowned Muscadet project once already this year, when I tasted with Vincent Caillé at the Salon des Vins de Loire. I didn’t expect to have the opportunity to taste it again so soon, but spotting both Vincent and his partner in this project, Christelle Guibert (pictured), at the RAW fair in London in May I knew they had to be pouring the Terre de Gneiss (as well as a number of Vincent’s other wines of course). And I certainly wasn’t going to refuse another opportunity to taste.
The recipe is already well described, so I will be brief in this update; Christelle owns 1 hectare of vines, which Vincent tends using solely organic methods. The fruit is picked by hand, pressed and vinified in a 16-hectolitre concrete egg. The 2014 vintage was inaugural, and is now largely sold out, although I do know that Christelle has opted to keep back 90 magnums and 172 bottles, for a later release. Apparently the magnums are popular with restaurants for sale by the glass (presumably with a decent preservation system such as Enomatic or Coravin).
The 2015 vintage was picked in less than optimal conditions as it was raining at the time of the harvest, which took two days. The vineyard supplies a much greater volume of juice than the egg can accommodate though, so a strict selection is a natural part of the process. The wine is due to be bottled in late June, and this year Christelle anticipates a slightly shorter run of 150 magnums, with about 1,900 bottles. Having now tasted the wine twice I expect quality to be comparable to the 2014 vintage, and I expect demand will be high. (13/8/16)
