# Clos Cormerais Domaine Ménard-Gaborit (2024)

- **Producer:** Domaine Ménard-Gaborit
- **Colour:** white
- **Type:** still
- **Grapes:** Melon de Bourgogne
- **Region:** Loire, France
- **Style:** Classic
- **Alcohol:** 12.0%
- **Average price:** €20
- **Vegan:** Yes
- **Contains sulphites:** Yes
- **When to drink:** Now or Later
- **Serving temperature:** 10–12 °C
- **Aromas & flavours:** lemon, grapefruit, pear, peach, blossom, brioche

## About this wine

Domaine Ménard-Gaborit is a family-owned estate located in Monnières in France's Loire Valley, boasting a viticultural heritage spanning six generations since 1734. Centered around the historic windmill Le Moulin de la Minière, the estate is managed by François Ménard alongside his wife Pauline. The Inspirations par François Ménard collection highlights special single-parcel selections, specifically from Clos Cormerais, aimed at capturing the distinctive micaschist terroir of the site.

## Interesting facts

- Vinified and aged in vertical stoneware egg-shaped tanks to promote natural lees suspension without oak flavor transfer.
- The family estate has been making wine around the historic Moulin de la Minière since 1734.
- Sourced from a tiny 0.5-hectare single parcel with subsoils exceptionally rich in micaschist and quartz.

## Food pairing

The vibrant acidity, medium weight, and subtle marine salinity of this wine create ideal harmony with sweet seafood, oysters, and light poultry. Aging on lees in stoneware adds texture that pairs gracefully with butter-based or cream sauces without cloying.

## Wine making process

Grapes are hand-harvested from 45-year-old vines grown on micaschist soils. After gentle pneumatic pressing and cold settling, fermentation occurs with native yeasts in an ovoid stoneware (grès) tank. The wine undergoes aging on fine lees for 10 to 11 months in the stoneware egg without racking, utilizing micro-oxygenation and natural lees suspension to build rich texture without oak influence.