Le Clos Galerne Anjou Blanc Balade en Chenin 2020
France’s history is not exactly short of stories of war and uprisings. The revolution which swept through the nation and its lands at the end of the 18th century was one of the most dramatic in European history, leading to decades of political instability as France flip-flopped between republic and monarchy, until it eventually settled on the former.
While it is the Storming of the Bastille, on July 14th 1789, that is most firmly lodged in the collective consciousness of the French people (it is of course memorialised in a public holiday, which probably helps), some of this period’s most decisive moments were played out along the banks of the Layon, during the War of the Vendée (1793 – 1796). As it happens, just beneath the vineyards of Cédric Bourez, and Le Clos Galerne.
It was here, at the Pont Barré (pictured below), that the Armées Catholique et Royale, essentially several thousand armed and battle-seasoned peasants from the Vendée, faced down the revolting Republicans; the Vendéens were outnumbered, yet victorious. The battle resulted in the destruction of the embankments and locks that had been underwritten by the future Louis XVIII (1755 – 1824) only a few years before, returning the recently canalised Layon to its more natural state. Other nearby buildings were torched, not least the windmill atop the slope, at the heart of Cédric’s Moulin Brûlé (which translates as burnt windmill) vineyard.
Defeat came hot on the heels of victory for the Armées Catholique et Royale, and after they were routed at Cholet they fled north, across the Loire, in what came to be known as the Virée de Galerne, named for the Galerne, a northwesterly wind, in which the forces made their U-turn (virée). This intense local history is why Cédric Bourez chose to name his domaine Le Clos Galerne, and the windy influences are plain to see on his labels.
Having worked in Provence for many years it was in 2018 that Cédric relocated to the Loire Valley, keen to carve out his own niche in the world of wine. Working from cellars in Saint-Lambert-du-Lattay, he began building up a portfolio of parcels, gathering together vines in the aforementioned Moulin Brûlé but also in Les Rouannières and Les Zerzilles in the Quarts de Chaume appellation.
While continuing to work from the aforementioned cellars he and his family settled in a grand maison on the Butte de Chaume, which he purchased from the family of Guy Rochais (who also sold Château Plaisance to Vanessa Cherruau and her backer around the same time). He is now firmly part of the Anjou wine scene.
Cedric’s wines do not slot easily into the ‘New Anjou’, the electric and eye-popping style, rich in acidity and minerality, which is currently sweeping the region. Instead these are wines of polish and density, wines of clean lines but with an occasionally velvety richness. One or two display high alcohol, depending on the vintage. He has a handsome portfolio of cuvées parcellaires, but the range opens with Balade en Chenin, an entry-level cuvée made by assembling fruit from a variety of terroirs, taking in parcels on both schist, which dominates in this region, but also spilite. The vines are aged about 25 years, the fruit picked by hand, and after pressing the juice is vinified in cuve, where the newborn wine rests on its lees for eleven months before bottling, which obviously vacates the cuve just in time for the next harvest.
In the glass the 2020 Anjou Blanc Balade en Chenin presents a pale, straw-tinged hue. There follows a beautifully fresh, powdery and perfumed nose, with scents of orange, kumquat, white peach and vanilla, as well as a little touch of perfumed sandalwood. It continues with a gently polished composition on the palate, with the scented citrus and stone fruits of the nose set within a body which combines sinewy and sweet texture with some fine veins of pithy phenolics, as well as a modest acidity which is in keeping with the overall style in the region in this warmer vintage. It all culminates in a rich flourish of peppery energy and substance which gives it a confident length. While it initially shows a bright and deft character, it turns more grippy and substantial through the middle and finish, which is more in keeping with the Bourez house style to my mind. All in all this is a good result, especially for an entry-level assemblage. The alcohol declared on the label is 13.5%. 92/100 (13/1/25)
Read more in:
- My guide to the Anjou region
- My detailed profile of Le Clos Galerne
- A first report on the Loire 2020 vintage
Find Le Clos Galerne Anjou Blanc Balade en Chenin 2020 on Wine Searcher: 
Find all Le Clos Galerne wines on Wine Searcher: