Terre de l'Elu - La Boussole 2023

A generously rich yet well balanced Chenin from the Loire.

Rounder in style with layers of complexity. Gorgeous nutty overtones are accompanied by florals, stone fruits, and a few grassy notes. Fine acid lines add just enough to keep things structured and moreish. Very decadent on the nose. A perfect Autumn white.

NERD NOTES

Region: Loire Valley – Anjou

Appellation: Vin de France

Grapes: 100% Chenin Blanc

Average Vine Age: 30 years-old

Altitude: From 230 feet (70m)

Soils/Terroir: From an east exposed parcel near the hamlet of Les Barres, with dark soils of schist and quartz.

Farming: Organic

Harvest: Hand harvested

Yield: 40 hl/ha

Winemaking: Gentle whole cluster pressing upon arrival in the cellar is followed by 1 day of cold settling. The juice is then racked off the gross lees into stainless-steel tanks, where fermentation begins spontaneously using only the naturally occurring indigenous yeasts. There is no battonage and the wine goes through full malolactic fermentation.

Maturation: Aged for 7 months in stainless-steel tanks on the fine lees. 1 month prior to bottling a low dose of sulphur was added, followed by a very light filtration.

pH: 3.25

Total SO2: 26ppm

ABOUT TERRE DE L'ÉLU

Charlotte and Thomas Carsin took over (what is now known as) Terre de l’Élu in 2008, shifting the domaine away from selling to local négociants, now producing their own wines. Taking over conventionally farmed vineyards in an unfamiliar region is a monumental challenge, but Charlotte and Thomas were up to it, drawing on Thomas' training as an agricultural engineer and experience as a vineyard consultant.

The domaine has expanded over the years, now being 22 hectares large and spread over 30 plots along the right bank of the Layon, starting upriver at Chaume and finishing at Ardenay and Chaudefonds-sur-Layon. It's terroir is predominately schist, with varying amounts of quarts, sandstone schist, shale, and slate, as is common throughout this area of Anjou.

Approximately 65% of the domaine's vineyards are planted with an equal mix of Cabernet Franc and Chenin Blanc, with the remaining 35% being made up of Gamay, Grolleau (Gris and Noir), Pineau d'Aunis, and Sauvignon Blanc.

Charlotte and Thomas manage their vineyards with organic farming practices, achieving certification on their 2013 vintage, and work as naturally as possible - using native cover crops, vertical soil tilling, and only natural treatments. This work has allowed them to preserve many of the domaine's older vines, with new planting being carried out with massale selection to preserve biodiversity.

Each variety and vineyard are hand harvest and vinified separately. The white wines are direct pressed and cold settled for a short period before being transferred to stainless, neutral French oak barrels, or Amphora for fermentation and ageing. The red wines are fermented in whole bunches and aged in neutral French oak barrels. All wines undergo spontaneous fermentation with indigenous/natural yeasts. Sulfur usage is kept to a minimum, often only added right before bottling.

Charlotte and Thomas withdrew their estate from Anjou AOP in 2018, after years of bureaucratic costs and delays and having their wines being rejected by the appellation, now labelling them as Vin de France. Having originally named the domaine 'Clos de l’Élu', they have renamed it 'Terre de l’Élu', due to being unable to use the term 'Clos' outside of an appellation. Despite the name change, their commitment to their wine remains unwavering and as dedicated as ever.