Les Maisons brulees
Who: Paul & Corinne Gillet
Where: Pouillé (Loire Valley, France)
What grapes: Sauvignon Blanc, Menu Pineau, Chardonnay, Pinot Noir, Cabernet Sauvignon, Gamay, Côt, Cabernet Franc, Pineau d’Aunis
Key facts: Les Maison Brûlées, founded by Michel & Beatrice Augé, was one of the very first Biodynamic cooperatives in France. Now owned by Paul & Corinne Gillet, it has been a Certified Biodynamic farm for over 30 years.
Les Maisons Brûlées “Silène” Vin de France — SOLD OUT
Viticulture: Organic / Biodynamic
Soil type: Limestone-Clay, Silex & Fossils
Elevation: 226m
Grapes: Sauvignon Blanc from 4 different parcels throughout the domaine
Method of Fermentation: Gentle skin maceration before pressing. Native Yeast fermentation, aged the majority in foudre, the rest in fiber. Bottled 15 months later. Unfined, unfiltered, unsulfered. Bottled by hand and by gravity.
Throw all your preconceptions of banal SB out the window. This is exotic, it has an appealing melon character and texture I associate with skin maceration. Good acidity, fine minerality on the finish. — JM
Les Maison Brûlées “Poussière de Lune” Vin de France — SOLD OUT
Viticulture: Organic / Biodynamic
Soil type: Limestone-Clay, Silex & Fossils
Elevation: 226m
Grapes: 60% Sauvignon Blanc from 80 year old vines & 40% Menu Pineau from the renowned site “le Herdeleau”
Method of Fermentation: The Sauvignon Blanc & Menu Pineau are harvested & pressed together. Native Yeast fermentation, aged 1 year Alsatian foudre then 15 months in fiber before bottling. Unfined, unfiltered, unsulfered. Bottled by hand and by gravity.
The wine smells of honey and white flowers. It also smells very much of the Loire. Stony and precise on the palate, with gently fruity aromas widening the appeal. — JM
Les Maison Brûlées “Erèbe” Vin de France 2017 — SOLD OUT
Viticulture: Organic / Biodynamic
Soil type: Limestone-Clay, Silex & Fossils
Elevation: 226m
Grapes: 45% Côt, 40% Cabernet Franc & 15% Cabernet Sauvignon
Method of Fermentation: 15 days of whole berry fermentation with several punch downs. Native Yeast fermentation. Aged for 2 years in 1/2 muids - 600 liters and barriques. Unfined, unfiltered, unsulfered. Bottled by hand and by gravity.
Open ripe texture, lots of fruit. — JM
Les Maison Brûlées Pinot Noir Vin de France 2018 — SOLD OUT
Viticulture: Organic / Biodynamic
Soil type: Limestone-Clay, Silex & Fossils
Elevation: 226m
Grapes: 100% Pinot Noir, 40 year old vines from the renowned site “le Herdeleau”
Method of Fermentation: Native Yeast fermentation; long extended maceration over 27 days without any intervention. Aged for 15 months in old 1/2 muids - 500 liters before bottling. Unfined, unfiltered, unsulfered. Bottled by hand and by gravity.
Les Maison Brûlées “Dernier Né” Vin de France — SOLD OUT
Viticulture: Organic / Biodynamic
Soil type: Limestone-Clay, Silex & Fossils
Elevation: 226m
Grapes: 55% Gamay à jus blanc & Gamay teinturier, 45% Pineau d’Aunis
Method of Fermentation: Whole berry fermentation over 14 days: slow maceration and semi-carbonic. Very gentle pigeage. Native Yeast fermentation; full of tongue & cheek. Unfined, unfiltered, unsulfered. Bottled by hand and by gravity.
They use a Coquard press in a tiny jumbled cellar to make all these wines. During our visit dogs and chickens were ambling about. It rained, so we hid for a while in the tiny crowded barrel room and tasted wines with Paul. I remember Dernier Ne being juicy and good, straightforward, appealing. — JM
Every time I open a bottle I feel like I am going on an adventure through space and time. I start with it being cold from the fridge and let it warm up over the end of the apertif. Each sip is unique, different, it tickles my fancy. I paired it with my beige meal: GBD chicken thighs, acorn squash, NC sweet potatoes, jasmine rice and ro. cauliflower puree. — az
“I feel that in almost every photo, Paul is in uniform: a tattered long-sleeve shirt too long, tucked in; a mop of golden haloed hair and a five-a-clock shadow. He is exactly the picture I would draw of Biodynamics personified. His hands are stained with wine and dirt and his eyes are lively. He speaks excellent English, and he knows it. I am equally impressed with his wife (if maybe not more as I have been with all the women we met on this trip). She has a firm hand shake, a steady gaze and I have the feeling that she gets shit done. It turns out that they have been on a fantastic life adventure together for quite some time, starting out as Cavistes in Alsace before moving to Argentina to become restauranteurs.
The estate that Paul & Corinne now call home is the oldest Biodynamic Cooperative in France established over 30 years ago by the previous owners Michel & Beatrice Augé. Paul & Corinne started working with Michel & Beatrice in 2011 before purchasing the property in 2013, keeping all the methods of Biodynamie intact. The French have a subtle sense of humor about all things (just take a look at that label above) and a not so subtle sense of humor (just look at Jerry Lewis). Visiting with Paul right after re-entry was an excellent test of my abilities to get back into the swing of understanding the language. I only wish they had invited us for dinner as we ended up walking the streets of Tour that night disoriented with jet lag and hunger after being turned away from the bistro that was calling our names.
But I am forgetting myself…if you say that in French, it means you have had an “accident”. The vineyards of Les Maisons are extraordinary, soft, carefully plowed so that the soil is loose without turning over the top layer. You can find fossils throughout the vineyards as well as golfball size pieces of Silex. The earth is and the vines rest within. Paul walks us through his two most famous vineyards: “Heardelau” & “Les Maison Brûlées”. The oldest of the Sauvignon Blanc vines around 80 years old are found in “Heardelau”. These go into the captivating and entrancing Poussière de Lune (Moon Dust), but also refers to the style of vine foot.” AZ