Located just south of Angers in Mozé-sur-Louet, the Anjou Noir part of Anjou-Saumur, Terra Vita Vinum boasts 30 hectares of vineyards planted on dark schist and granite soils. Bénédicte Petit and Luc Briand took over the estate from the Richou family in 2019, from which point their sole focus was to make some of the most terroir-expressive Chenin Blanc wines.

All farmed biodynamically (Demeter certified), Terra Vita Vinum’s philosophy is low interventionist winemaking to allow the vineyards to speak for themselves. “We do everything possible to produce terroir wines with the greatest transparency to deliver unique emotions.” Only natural yeast found on the grapes are used for fermentation, conducted in many different types of vessels ranging from demi-muid, concrete egg, and amphorae. Very little use of SO2 and no filtering or fining completes the winemaking. Their top cuvées are only released three years after harvest, half of this time spent maturing in the bottle.

The estate has three ranges of cuvées intertwined with many grape varieties ranging from age-worthy Chenin Blanc to Grolleau, Gamay, Savagnin, Cabernet Franc, and others. Their Selections Parcellaires range is the focus today, with Chenin Blanc being their flagship varietal expressed through five different cuvées – Bigottière (Savennières AOC), Grandes Rogeries, Pavillon, Le Réau, and Grand Vau, all four in Anjou Blanc AOC. Cabernet Franc and Gamay are the stars for their red cuvées. It is a young project that already has a cult following and is becoming a favourite for sommeliers worldwide.

Designation – PDO (AOC) Anjou blanc

Geology – Plot located in the commune of Denée opposite our plot in Savennières on green sandstone schist, sometimes with purple passages and often with banks of phtanites. Exposure: North.

Grape variety – Fermented Chenin juice from a manual harvest (1 row tray of 8 kg only).

Growing method – Our vines are cultivated in a traditional and selective manner. Soil maintenance is done mechanically without chemical weeding and our vines are protected using preparations made from natural products, in the respect of biodiversity.

Winemaking – Natural: fermentation with yeast from our own grapes, no stirring, fining or filtration, 20 mg/L sulphites added after malolactic fermentation. Ageing for 26 months in demi-muid (49%), concrete egg (28%) and amphora (23%).

Analysis

Sulphites: total 34 mg/L;
Alcohol: 14% vol;
Residual sugars: 1,1 g/L;
Complete malolactic fermentation.

At Terra Vita Vinum, “we cultivate the vines with respect for biodiversity and do everything possible to produce terroir wines with the utmost transparency to deliver unique emotions“. Let’s remember that our wines are as close as possible to what nature gives us. Each cuvée is therefore a unique work, never before made, and never again.

The spirit of this cuvée is to use the 2 years of ageing to allow the predominance of the “varietal” taste to give way to a more complex mineral expression reflecting the characteristics of a unique terroir.

Wine Advocate Robert Parker – 92+ points (2019 Vintage)

The 2019 Pavillon is showing well today, with aromas of ripe orchard fruits, spring flowers, fresh baked bread, caramel and nutmeg. Medium to full-bodied, tense and incisive with bright acids and a delicate mid-palate, it’s satiny and layered with a saline, fresh finish. It was matured for 26 months in 600-liter barrels (45%), egg-shape concrete containers (30%) and amphorae (25%). It contains 0.3 grams per liter of residual sugar.