Domaine Clau de Nell

History

This story begins not at a vineyard, but at an export company. In 2006, Anne-Claude Leflaive, Christian Jacques, and soil microbiologists Claude and Lydia Bourguignon founded the venture company CLAC to help French biodynamic growers export their wine to overseas markets. Clau de Nell was one of the 13 biodynamic domaines in their portfolio, and this was precisely how the couple came to know about it.

That same year, they met the owners of the winery. By 2008, the vineyard was in serious crisis and had not produced a single bottle of wine for three years. Leflaive and Jacques stepped in to purchase the vineyard; initially, they planned to operate it alongside the previous owners. However, that partnership did not last long, and the previous owner left.

In 2009, Sylvain Potin, who had expertise in biodynamic farming, took over as manager, and the work of restoring and replanting the vineyard began in earnest.

The name originates from the couple, Claude and Nelly Pichard, who owned the property before all of this began; they hailed from Burgundy. In other words, Clau de Nell is a combination of their two names.

By 2023, the team structure had stabilized, with Christian Jacques serving as general manager, Potin handling operations, Cyril managing the vineyard, Arnaud overseeing the winery, and Sonia handling administration. All three daughters of Anne-Claude and Christian work in the wine industry and maintain close ties with the winery. Marine, an architect, is building a new winery; Charlotte handles distribution and marketing; and Claire operates a wine and dining shop in Beaune.

The vineyards

Clau de Nell is not a mosaic of scattered plots throughout the Anjou area. It is a fairly isolated, single plot of approximately 10 hectares located on the gentle slopes of Ambillou-Château. It is easy to cultivate, and it is also easy to get to know the land intimately.

When this property changed hands in 2008, 8 hectares of it already existed. These were planted to Cabernet Franc, Grolleau and a little Cabernet Sauvignon. The average age of the vines is about 60 years, and some are over 100 years old. This is particularly unusual for the Grolleau variety, as it has often been uprooted rather than cherished.

Subsequent plantings were carried out with great care and on a small scale. Chenin Blanc was the first to be planted, with 1.5 hectares added in 2012 and 2013, followed by another 1.5 hectares in 2018. An additional 0.5 hectares of Grolleau were planted in 2017. While frost poses a real threat in this part of the Loire, damage tends to be concentrated in localized areas rather than across the entire slope.

The terroir

The three elements that characterize the soil of Ambillou-Château are clay, flint, and tuffeau, a pale, soft limestone that lies beneath a significant portion of the Loire. The topsoil in which the Chenin vines of this vineyard grow is described as tuffeau covered with red sandstone and flint, creating a structure where a warm, stony surface rests atop a cool, moisture-retaining subsoil.

It is precisely this combination that made Clau de Nell worth preserving in the first place. Flint and gravel provide good drainage and retain heat well, which helps Cabernet Franc ripen successfully in such a northern region. The tuffeau beneath supplies moisture to the roots even during droughts, and old vines with roots deeply embedded in the tu-po are less affected by the sweltering summer heat than young vines.

Four grape varieties

Clau de Nell carries only a select few varieties, which are the same as those that Anjou has consistently carried.

• Cabernet Franc: The winery's flagship red wine and its symbol
• Grolleau: An old Loire variety that was previously used mainly to produce inexpensive rosé wines, but here it is carefully made into a premium wine
• Cabernet Sauvignon: Although it accounts for a small proportion of the production, it is used primarily in blends with other varieties rather than bottled as a single-varietal wine
• Chenin Blanc: The most recently introduced variety, first planted in 2012

The blending ratios have not been disclosed, and in any case, they have changed as cultivation of Chenin has gained momentum.

The winemaking

Since Clau de Nell's biodynamic farming practices have been in place since 2000, long before the Leflaive era, no one had to switch to a new method. Potin and his team have simply continued with their existing approach. The winery makes it clear that it focuses more on reading what nature is doing rather than dictating to nature, which effectively means accepting that no two vintages will ever be treated exactly the same way.

Chenin Blanc, the first commercial Chenin Blanc from the estate's own young vines, was released in 2015, which was considered a good year to begin. In 2021, the fifth cuvée, Blanc de Noir, followed.

The winery itself is also undergoing changes. Marine Jacques-Leflaive, who runs the Eco-Dynamic architectural firm, is designing and constructing the winery's new facility.

The wines

Clau de Nell Cabernet Franc is a wine familiar to most people; it is bottled as the Anjou appellation using grapes grown on old vines on a hillside. This wine is the winery's flagship.

A small lineup is built around this wine. There is a red wine, Cuvée Violette, with Anjou and Cabernet Franc forming the core of the lineup and Cabernet Sauvignon rounding it out. The Grolleau variety is bottled as a single-varietal wine; very few producers make it from old vines of this caliber. Chenin Blanc is released as a dry white wine, and Blanc de Noir, a white wine pressed from red grapes, completes the lineup of five cuvées.

No wine here is produced on a large scale, as the 10-hectare vineyard imposes certain limitations.