Châteaux du Breuil et de la Roche
Couleurs du Breuil ‘Le Grolleau’ Val de Loire Rouge 2021
Châteaux du Breuil et de la Roche Couleurs du Breuil ‘Le Grolleau’ Val de Loire Rouge 2021
In France’s majestic Loire Valley lies Châteaux du Breuil et de la Roche, situated on the right bank of the Layon river near the village of Beaulieu-sur-Layon, 20 minutes south of Angers. Built in 1822, Le Breuil’s vineyards are located on prime L’Anjou Noir vineyards: south-facing slopes of the Coteaux du Layon, resting on a bed of schist just above a seam of spilite that runs between the towns of Beaulieu-sur-Layon and Rochefort-sur-Loire. The winery also owns a prime vineyard across the Loire river, in the heart of Savennières.
The foundation of the winery lies in their superlative regenerative, certified-organic farming methods. The team has been working without the use of herbicides, pesticides or chemical fertilizers since 2007, receiving their organic certification from Ecocert in 2015. The Breuil team also utilizes native hedges, trees, and low stone walls as natural windbreaks and as pathways for wildlife to enter the vineyards from the forest. The resulting soil health is remarkable—turning over the soil in the Breuil vineyard reveals a rich network of mycelia (fungal organisms), earthworms, insects, and native ground cover, such as wild onion, garlic, and clover, among many others.
Châteaux du Breuil et de la Roche makes an approachable, juicy, and spicy light red from a two hectare vineyard of grolleau vines. Grolleau is originally from the region of Tours in France and is a descendant of goulais blanc, which mutated to red. Grolleau is super aromatic and expressive, with strawberry and raspberry and other red fruits with pepper notes. Breuil’s grolleau is lightly structured, with low alcohol (12.5%), lively fruit, zippy acid, and a refreshing, memorable finish; the perfect bistrot wine for food. Unpretentious and extremely satisfying, grolleau is a De Maison house favorite!
Vinification – The philosophy in the cellar is to protect and retain the purity of the fruit with as minimal intervention as possible. They use only the coeur du cuvée, the heart of the first pressing, for their estate wines. At harvest, each vineyard is monitored carefully for the desired balance, as they are always looking for the utmost elegance. Whole bunches are sorted first in the vineyard into small crates and then brought to the winery, where they are carefully washed to avoid the introduction of Brettanomyces (a necessary step to preserve fruit and vineyard character) and then sorted again by hand. Only the healthiest, best bunches make it into the fermentation tank. Bunches are handpicked, de-stemmed and crushed. A cold pre-fermentation maceration is used to take advantage of the aromatic potential, followed by traditional maceration, with alcoholic and malolactic fermentation for 18 days in stainless steel vats. Extraction is limited to limited pump-overs at the beginning of the maceration, and then statically in the form of infusion before pressing. ‘Le Grolleau’ is matured for six months in stainless steel, with only the minimum amount of sulfur dioxide possible added during élevage and at bottling.