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Pierre Ménard Anjou Blanc Pluton 2018

We are back in Anjou this week, and not just with my Weekend Wine choice.

Pierre Ménard, a young vigneron based on the outskirts of Faye d’Anjou, is one of the most notable names in Anjou today. I suppose it is still appropriate to describe him as ‘up-and-coming’, but I have been thoroughly convinced by the ethos, methodology and ultimately the quality of what goes into the bottle that I am already a fully signed-up Ménard groupie. I have been since I first tasted his wines, which was just a few years ago, after which I was quick to visit the domaine, and to get to know Pierre better.

Discovering vignerons such as Pierre is one of the benefits of being completely immersed in a wine region, as I try to be (as best I can) in the Loire Valley. For every domaine that disappears into cult stardom (not that many in this region, but there are a handful), the wines destined to appear only on the lists of the most painfully trendy wine bars and on the Instagram feeds of wine influencers, there is another domaine coming through which promises just as much, if not more, usually (for a while at least) for a less Veblen-esque price tag. Uncovering unheralded gems such as these is a much more rewarding activity than chasing well-known labels, and there are are rich pickings in Anjou at the moment.

Pierre Ménard has a little over 4 hectares of vines, dotted around the landscape close to his cellars. One of Pierre’s best-known cuvées is Le Clos des Mailles, which is sourced from three separate parcels of vines in the lieu-dit of the same name; it is a wine I have already featured on these pages, in both the 2017 and 2016 vintages. The cuvée Pluton comes from within one of these parcels, and it gives an insight into the multi-parcellated, micro-cuvée (and slightly mad) world which Pierre inhabits.

Pierre Ménard Anjou Pluton 2018

Having identified a seam of phthanite running diagonally through one of the three parcels, the soils otherwise entirely schistose in character, Pierre mapped it out and picked the fruit of the vines sitting on this seam of rock separately. This small harvest he presses, then he vinifies the juice not in barrel or foudre, which is the norm for the majority of his portfolio, but in stoneware jarre. The resulting wine is Pluton; differentiated primarily by terroir of origin, but also by vinification, it is one of the most striking cuvées in the Ménard line-up.

Released from beneath natural cork and a seal of blue wax, in the glass the 2018 Anjou Blanc Pluton from Pierre Ménard displays a clean, pale straw hue. Aromatically it is simply glorious, opening out quickly (which is a good job, as with a wine this delicious there is a chance the bottle will be empty soon after pulling the cork). It releases in sequence threads of crystalline peach, apricot, honeysuckle and apple, which come detailed with notes of wax, almond paste and a richer touch of pineapple. The palate simply shimmers with energy, acidity and a juicy vivacity, the wine presenting a precise, driven, focused and long poise in the mouth, culminating in a brilliantly electric finish. Perfumed, characterful and deliciously bitter, adding a welcome contrast to all that fruit, this is an absolutely fantastic example of what can be achieved with Chenin in Anjou, and is undeniably one of the finest examples of Anjou Blanc I have tasted in recent years. For drinking now (how can you resist?) but I am sure it will develop positively if left alone in a cool and dark corner. This is bottle number 68 out of 778 produced, and the alcohol declared on the label is 14%. 97/100

I did mention, back at the top of the page, that this was not my only foray into Anjou this week, and I have also alluded to Pierre’s mad micro-cuvée world. Tomorrow I report on a return visit to taste with Pierre earlier this year, during which I took in the latest vintages (2022 and 2021) of all the usual suspects, not just Pluton but also Le Clos des Mailles, Laïka, Orion Alpha, La Varenne de Chanzé and Le Quarts de Noëls, but also new additions to the portfolio, including Quarts de Gastines, Les Mailles Jeanne and Albote Pulsar. (27/11/23)

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