Domaine and vineyard
The Domaine de la Senechaliere is located in Saint Julien de Concelles, few
kilometers far from Nantes, on the border between Loire-Atlantique and Brittany
(Nantes is the ancient capital city of Brittany, even if is now
administratively out of the region). Essentially land of a sweet wine, the Muscadet.
And the Muscadet was exactly what the owner, Marc Pesnot, used to produce from
his 13 hectares of Melon de Bourgogne on a terroir derived from schist and
exposure to the south.
Everything changes at the beginning of the nineties when Marc tastes the
first “natural wines”; it is an illumination that pushes the vigneron towards a
reconversion of the production in a natural way. The process ends in 2001 when
he can officially affirm to produce wines 100% natural, without yeasts,
sulfites and chemical additions. In few words, his wines are nothing but
fermented grape juice!
For this reason his wine cannot be labelled with
any of the AOC of the region, so they are sold on the market as "Vin de France".
But this has not constituted a limitation to the success of his wines. Nowadays
he exports 80% of the overall production abroad (mainly USA, Switzerland and
Japan). And Japanese is the financial group (Nomura) that owns the domaine
since 2008. Marc is still there, anyway, free to continue to produce his wines,
in his way.
The wine
Grapes are hand-picked when they reach its maximum ripeness and then, once again manually, destemmed. A slow and controlled manual pressure follows and then the grapes undergo the fermentation with indigenous yeasts in temperature controlled stainless still tanks. From this moment onwards they will remain on their lees (up to nine months) before bottling. In the overall process there is no acidification, no fining.
Tasting Note
Date
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28 January 2016
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Wine name
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La BOHEME
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Vintage
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2014
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Nation
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France
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Region
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Brittany (Nantes)
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AOC-DOC
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//
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Grape Varieties
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100
% Melon de Bourgogne
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Serving temperature
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12° C
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Alcohol
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12
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Price (in euro)
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16
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SO2 (in mg/l)
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20
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Visual Examination
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Taste analysis
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Limpidity
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Limpid
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Body
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Full
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Color
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Straw yellow
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Balance
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Balanced
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Consistency
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Quite consistent
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Soft sensations
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Quite Soft
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Effervescence
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//
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Hard sensations
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Quite Fresh – Quite tasty
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Flavors intensity
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Quite Intense
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Olfactory analysis
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Flavours
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White flowers
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Aroma intensity
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Intense
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Complexity
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Quite Complex
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Finish/Persistence
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Quite Persistent
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Quality
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Fine
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Overall evaluations
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Aromas
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White flowers, pear, green
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Development
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Ready
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apple
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Harmony
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Harmonious
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Food pairing
Shellfish, grilled chicken & fish, hearty
garden salads or simply by itself.
It’s quite strange to surf on internet searching information about a
French wine and … finding the most of them in English and only few documents in
French. It is a clear indication of the market target of this producer that
sells 80% of his wines abroad.
And, tasting a natural wine, being prepared to do that, is something as
interesting as exciting.
Once opened the bottle the stream of aromas is really fantastic with
clear and well defined perceptions of green apple and white flowers. But, on
the other side this stream is quite volatile becoming more and more aerial
soon. In the mouth the wine is a real pleasure, with a nice taste and great
balance of freshness and saltiness. Another marking note of this wine remains
that little sparkling that perfectly balances the freshness without covering the overall taste.
I wish I could try it again after a couple of years of maturation in
bottle.
