# Les Feuillettes Blanc (2024)

- **Producer:** Domaine de Mirebeau
- **Colour:** white
- **Type:** still
- **Grapes:** Chenin Blanc
- **Region:** Loire, France
- **Style:** Natural
- **Alcohol:** 11.0%
- **Average price:** €18
- **Vegan:** Yes
- **Contains sulphites:** Yes
- **When to drink:** Now or Later
- **Serving temperature:** 8–11 °C
- **Aromas & flavours:** apple, quince, lemon

## About this wine

Domaine de Mirebeau is an organic estate situated in Rablay-sur-Layon within the Anjou region of the Loire Valley, managed by vigneron Bruno Rochard. Rochard took over his family estate in 1998, converting it from a conventional bulk producer to a focused 6.5-hectare organic and biodynamic vineyard. Encouraged by his neighbor Richard Leroy, Bruno downsized the estate to manage every vine meticulously by hand. Les Feuillettes is his freshest expression of Chenin Blanc, sourced from 30 to 42-year-old vines planted on schist, clay, and gravel soils.

## Interesting facts

- Bruno Rochard and his estate were featured in Étienne Davodeau's popular 2011 graphic novel, Les Ignorants.
- Bruno downsized his domain to just 6.5 hectares to ensure every vine could be worked entirely by hand.
- The wine is made without winemaking additives, relying on spontaneous wild yeast fermentation.

## Food pairing

The electric acidity and crisp minerality of this dry Chenin Blanc easily cut through delicate rich proteins like sea bream and goat cheese. Citrus and orchard fruit notes complement light poultry preparations and fresh seafood without overpowering their natural flavors.

## Wine making process

The grapes are 100% hand-harvested in small crates. In the cellar, whole-cluster direct pressing is followed by slow, spontaneous fermentation with indigenous yeasts in temperature-controlled tanks without any additives. Natural malolactic fermentation completes, and the wine ages for 9 to 10 months in stainless steel tanks on fine lees without oak influence. The wine is unfined with a very light filtration and bottled with minimal added sulfur.