Pierre Menard Pluton 2020
LESS IS MORE WINESGrape: Chenin Blanc
Vintage: 2020
Type: White
Pierre Menard grew up in a winemaking family in Anjou. He went on to study winemaking in Angers and to work stints in Pauillac at Chateau Latour, in the Duoro, Canada, New Zealand and in Tokaj, Hungary. When he returned home to Anjou, he began farming a few rows of his family’s old vine Chenin and Sauvignon Blanc. Traditionally his parents sold the grapes from all 13 hectares of their vines to a cooperative, but they agreed to let him keep some for his own project. In 2013, while still in his twenties, he bottled a miniscule number of bottles in a garage turned wine cellar. This inaugural vintage was received with great critical acclaim and a rising star of Anjou was born. Since then, Pierre has expanded his holdings to more than 1.5 hectares, all farmed biodynamically. He makes several bottlings of Chenin Blanc from these old vines, all dry. Pierre Menard's flagship cuvee. Only 2 barrels of this wine are made from Chenin Blanc vines in the Clos de Mailles vineyard that sit on a vein of blue schist with quartz. A powerful, intense, and highly aromatic wine that quivers with tension despite its depth and serious body. Biodynamically farmed with natural farming principles. Harvested by hand, soft pneumatic pressing. Fermentation and maturation occur in barrel and in a used, small stoneware jar.