This new cuvée comes from the first pick of each of Renaud’s parcels of Chenin Blanc and therefore includes vines both young and old. The grapes were pressed directly and moved to old barrels for fifteen months of élevage, and here a cooler vintage has rendered a pale, delicate and nuanced expression of the grape that is incredibly compelling in its youth.

Renaud Guettier - La Grapperie

In the quiet village of Bueil-en-Touraine, on the northern edge of the Loire, Renaud Guettier tends a handful of old vineyards that speak louder than he ever would. Trained as an agronomist with a focus on plant physiology, he approaches the work with both scientific precision and deep humility — letting the vines do most of the talking.

Since 2004, Renaud has slowly pieced together a patchwork of small, old parcels across the Coteaux du Loir, now totaling around five hectares of Chenin Blanc and Pineau d’Aunis, many vines pushing eighty years. The soils here — a mix of clay, flint, and limestone — give the wines their quiet power and detail. Everything is farmed organically, by hand, with a patience that borders on devotion.

In his cellar, carved directly into the limestone cliffs, Renaud works as simply as possible: hand-harvested fruit, manual pressing, gravity-fed movement, native yeast fermentation, and long aging in old barrels. Nothing added, nothing forced. The wines rest a year or two before bottling, gathering the kind of depth that only time can create.

The result is a lineup that feels both ancient and alive — wines with real presence and tension, built to last, but beautiful even now. La Grapperie isn’t about style so much as stewardship — a quiet, exacting conversation between land, vine, and hand.