Producer Domaine de Berthiers

FRANCE, LOIRE

The Domaine de Berthiers is located in the hamlet of Berthiers, in the village of Saint-Andelain, a small commune in the heart of the Loire and adjacent to Pouilly sur Loire. The estate was owned by one of the key personalities of the Pouilly-Fumé region, Jean-Claude Dagueneau. As his health became more of an issue to manage the vineyards, the Domaine became part of Domaine Fournier. Today the Domaine extends over eleven hectares of vineyards, which are located on the siliceous hill to the southwest along the Loire river opposite the Sancerre vineyards. The plants are twenty to thirty years old and are found on a calcareous and siliceous soil, typical of the area, capable of giving white wines of great minerality. Few fertilizers in the vineyard, low yields, winter grassing, spring harrowing and of course... no synthetic chemistry! Prepackaged recipes are not followed in the cellar, each vintage has its own story. What unites the approach of each wine is instead the rejection of corrective oenology. Indigenous yeasts for fermentation, very limited use of sulphites, no forced clarification, long refinements. Thus was born a kaleidoscope of bottles, colors and interpretations, united by a great expressive spontaneity and a rare gustatory energy.