France – Domaine de la Senechaliere La Boheme 2014

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

Il Domaine de la Senechaliere La Boheme 2014 is a 100% Melon de Bourgogne. The vines are well over 50 years old. They are are trained in Guyot simple system with an average yield of 40 hl/ha.
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	28 January 2016
Wine name	La BOHEME	Vintage	2014
Nation	France	Region	Brittany (Nantes)
AOC-DOC	//	Grape Varieties	100 % Melon de Bourgogne
Serving temperature	12° C	Alcohol	12
Price (in euro)	16	SO2 (in mg/l)	20

 

Visual Examination		Taste analysis
Limpidity	Limpid	Body	Full
Color	Straw yellow	Balance	Balanced
Consistency	Quite consistent	Soft sensations	Quite Soft
Effervescence	//	Hard sensations	Quite Fresh – Quite tasty
		Flavors intensity	Quite Intense
Olfactory analysis		Flavours	White flowers
Aroma intensity	Intense
Complexity	Quite Complex	Finish/Persistence	Quite Persistent
Quality	Fine	Overall evaluations
Aromas	White flowers, pear, green	Development	Ready
	apple	Harmony	Harmonious

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.

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