Grolleau IGP 2020

Rustic and elegant at once, with cool precision: dark fruit, dense herbal spice and invigorating freshness define this single-varietal Grolleau, which brings genuine ageing potential.

The plots lie near Ambillou-Château in the Anjou, 90 metres above sea level and 120 kilometres from the Atlantic; cool nights and warm days set the rhythm. The vines are 60 to 90 years old, with further plantings added in recent years. They root in clay-silt soil over sandstone, as well as in red flint over tuffeau.

Grolleau is an indigenous Loire variety usually destined for off-dry Rosé d'Anjou; it had almost never been vinified as a single varietal before Claude and Nelly, the founders of Clau de Nell, did so. The yield is 25 hl/ha. Hand-harvested into 12-kilo crates, destemmed, 30 days of fermentation with only occasional pumping-over. 30% aged for twelve months on fine lees in five- to seven-year-old Burgundian pièces, 70% in large foudres, with the blend then spending six months in stainless steel.

The glass offers blackberry, blackcurrant, sloe and mulberry, alongside rosemary, wild sage, eucalyptus, elder wood and vegetal notes of beetroot and aubergine. On the palate, juicy dark fruit, fine spice, once again plenty of herbs, a saline streak and a finish with a meaty character.

Beetroot baked in a salt crust with rocket salad and black walnuts, monkfish wrapped in bacon on braised aubergine vegetables, or braised beef with green beans and potato gratin. Serve at 16 °C, decanted, in a large glass.

The vineyards have been farmed biodynamically since 2000, and the label carries the Demeter logo. In 2008, Anne-Claude Leflaive and Christian Jacques took over the estate; since her death in 2015, Christian Jacques and cellar master Sylvain Potin have continued to run it together. Two hectares are planted with Grolleau.