Description

A really special vineyard, green sandstone shale, sometimes with purple passages and often with phtanite rocks. Vines are 60 years old. The wine is fermented and raised in a mix of anfora, ceramic eggs and demi-muid. This is superb, very poised with floral and faint citrus aromas. Superb in balance and tension with much more to come over the years. Serious Class

This exciting project was born when Didier Richou, one of the two brothers who ran the much respected Domaine Richou, decided to retire. His younger brother Damien needed help, so brought in three new partners. The project’s aims are simple – to continue and build upon the work done by the Richou brothers, to convert the domaine from organic to biodynamic farming and to make the finest wines possible with the least intervention. These wines are fantastic – sophisticated, distinctive and delicious.

Terra Vita Vinum are based in the heart of the Anjou Noir region, where the soils are quite different to the limestones of Saumur and elsewhere in the Loire. Here we find a geologist’s dream, a complex mix of schists, quartz and volcanic rocks ideally suited to viticulture. Each vineyard’s unique situation, soil and climate gives its own character, clearly translated via the vine into the glass. This is the essence of terroir and central to the philosophy of Terra Vita Vinum.

At last, the dry Chenins of the Loire have started to take their rightful place among amateurs and professionals: world class white wines, capable of embodying the complex nuances of incredibly varied terroirs, with potential for aging. The arrival of Chenin among the great grapes of the world is undeniable. It is easier to admit when speaking of Chenin grown on limestone soil, but the same can be said (but, unfortunately is overlooked) of the Chenin grown on schist. My interest for Chenin on schist is not new, but it is stronger today than ever, because the quality of the production has never been so spectacular and diverse!
PASCALINE LEPELTIER
Meilleur Sommelier de France 2018, MOF