Bourgueil Clos Nouveau, Dom. du Bel Air - Gauthier P&F - 2021

The story begins in 1880, when Pierre's great-grandfather, now a winegrower and representative of the fourth generation, decides to work the land in a way other than by making pots and "dames-jeannes", he being a potter's worker born in the village of Benais, in Touraine. His mission began with the purchase of a few plots of land in the lower part of the village. These few plots of land quickly became a few acres and soon afterwards he was able to acquire a few plots of vineyard land at an affordable price, just after the phylloxera. He planted grafted plants and experimented with the alchemy of fermentation at a time when everything was empirical, but polyculture declined sharply in the 1970s and he turned to the vine and the profession of winemaker. Today, Pierre Gauthier and Rodolphe, his son, are still winemakers in Benais. Since 2000, the estate has been run under organic farming methods certified by Ecocert. The vines are pruned in single guyot 6 eyes. After budburst, the vines are disbudded every fortnight, de-leafed three times, and then thinned out before the harvest begins. The estate is protected from the wind by the immense surrounding forest and benefits from a mild, temperate climate favourable to good ripening.