• Famille Ogereau

    • Coteaux du Layon Bonnes Blanches

    • Vincent Ogereau

    At a Glance

    • Variety: Chenin Blanc
    • Surface Area: 1.9 ha (4.70 ac)
    • Vine Age: Planted in 1992 and 1993
    • Terroir: Clos des Bonnes Blanches, Saint Lambert du Lattay, on a gently-sloping hillside on the left bank of Layon river, northeast-facing, heavy clay soil with quartz gravel over a brittle talcous schist subsoil that allows the vines' roots to dig deep into the earth. The Botrytis develops slowly here, leading to grapes with high concentration by the time they are picked.
    • Viticulture: Organic (Ecocert), biodynamic (Biodyvin). 5,000 vines/ha, natural grass cover crop, manual de-budding and leaf thinning.
    • Vinification: Harvested in multiple passes, pressed for 10+ hours, cold settled, ambient yeast fermentation and aging for 9-10 months in 228-500 L barrels, the fermentation stops naturally after a few months, filtered with diatomaceous earth.

    Additional Info

    This parcel is right next to the river and has deeper soils, leading to more developed vine roots and early-ripening grapes with yet lower yields. The grape skins are thicker here, allowing for a slower development of botrytis which is more uniform and concentrated in its expression.

    In order to select only grapes with botrytis, the harvesters pass through the vineyard four to five times. Average yields are quite low, at 12 hectoliters per hectare.