2. Anjou – Domaine Aux Moines

This was a visit I very much wanted to make. In March when I attended tastings in London we went to Noble Rot on Lamb’s Conduit Street and had an excellent meal accompanied by a wine which I predicted might well turn out to be my wine of the year selection. That bottle was 2021 Domaine Aux Moines. Full of Chenin character; clean with fresh apple and white fruits, the slightest hint of honey but finishing with a lick of acidity to refresh the mouth and leave you wanting to start all over again. I must admit that whilst I knew that Domaine Aux Moines was a neighbour of renowned biodynamic pioneer Nicolas Joly I knew very little else about this Savennières producer. However, Jeff Coutelou got in touch to say how much he too loved this wine which I didn’t even know was natural.

It was a joy, therefore, when I heard that Tessa Laroche would be around for us to visit. The roads around Savennières were affected by the heavy rains and we got there early just in case. A walk around the vineyards revealed just how wet they were underfoot whilst the vines were budding beautifully. As I wrote in my last piece Tessa told me that she couldn’t get any machinery into the vineyards at all, she is trusting in nature to see that they remain in good health.

It is a beautiful estate with a lovely private garden full of roses and peonies and a small clos of vines. There are 12 hectares of Chenin Blanc vines in total but just two wines are made. The grapes from the 2 hectares of young vines (under 10 years old) go into Le Berceau des Fées. Tessa started to produce this in 2013 and the idea was to make a sappy wine for drinking early. For a number of years she then started to add the first and last pressed juice of the main wine to add complexity but in 2023 she decided to go back to her original plan and Le Berceau will only be made from the young vines.

The other vines produce Domaine Aux Moines. The juice is aged in foudres after pressing and then transferred to five stainless steel tanks for assembling before going into barrels to complete their preparation. The cellar is beautiful and work is being done to bring tasting rooms and storage rooms up to date with some beautiful vintage tiles and materials but also very modern technology such as humidity and temperature controls.

Tessa exudes joie de vivre and her enthusiasm and love for her domaine and wines shone out. There is such an obvious connection between great wines and the people who make them, a symbiosis, the wines benefit from the people and the people benefit from the wines. She began the tasting with the current bottles on sale, 2022 Berceau des Fées and 2021 Domaine Aux Moines, the one I loved in Noble Rot. The BdF was very enjoyable, lighter than the main cuvée certainly but round and rich Chenin, pears and some weight. Domaine Aux Moines was just as I recalled, lovely.

Tessa then took us into the cellars. She explained that 23 had been a difficult year as I wrote in my previous post. The vendanges were hit by rain, wind and cold after a bright start, much of the generous crop had to be left on the ground, dispiriting after a lot of promise earlier in the year. Tessa was full of praise for her team for sticking to the discipline of strict quality selection and for keeping up their morale. Much of that she credited to Élise, the young woman who is opening a pizzeria with her Chilean partner whom we had met at Domaine Mosse. It’s a small world.

The 23 Berceau des Fées was much more direct than the 22, lighter but drier and fresher. This was the result of the change in policy Tessa had outlined. I actually preferred this to the 22 despite the vintage suggesting it should be the other way round. The 23 Domaine Aux Moines was maturing in another room where it spends a year in foudre. The row of foudres was impressive and we tasted from a couple of them, one from the start of the harvest, one from later. The early picks were in the middle two foudres in the photo, they tasted very much in line with the 21, concentrated Chenin with its fruit, acidity and slight touch of sweetness. The outer two foudres had the later picked juice and, surprise, I actually preferred it. More concentration still, more directness and less rich. Tessa agreed (she is very polite after all) and credited that to the picking team. Despite having to leave so much fruit on the ground the quantities for 23 were similar to 22 because of the abundant early season.

The 2022 Domaine Aux Moines came from what Tessa believes is her best vintage so far, surpassing even the 2019. Everything went well in the year, the fruit was ripe, fresh and clean. The first and last pressed juice went to Berceau des Fées and the rest was in five stainless steel tanks. We tasted three to see how they differed after the first assemblage from barrel. There were indeed subtle variations, for example one had a more obvious oak influence than the others. Tessa intended to blend these tanks together this week, a job she likes to do on her own with no interruptions. She feels this helps her learn about the wine, be closer to it and assemble the best possible wine. She thinks she will produce it with no sulfites added, as was the case in 2020, a sign of her confidence in the wine. With the whole domaine depending on just two wines she has to be sure that they are absolutely right, if there is any doubt she will add minimal sulfites.

I have been very fortunate to visit many excellent winemakers and taste great wines with them. This was definitely amongst my favourite visits of all. Tessa is such a fun personality but also has a great knowledge which she loves to pass on. Her wines are complex, delicious and as good as any white wines that I know. Merci Tessa.