Les Justices is a lieu-dit in the village Saint-Aubin-de-Luigné and right next to the 13 Vents parcel. The vines are 40 years old on average, with 70 ares replanted in 2023 in selection massale. The soils consist of carboniferous schist and the vines are exposed full South. There is more wind here than Bézigon and La Roche, resulting in less mildew and illness. The soils are also poorer, leading to lower yields and higher concentration.

Garnier finds this parcel to be the roundest, richest expression of Chenin he produces.

JC Garnier

Jean-Christophe was a sommelier before deciding to pack it in and actually make the stuff. He studied winemaking in the Loire and after a stage with Marc Angeli bought a few plots of vines and started making his own wine.

He has some 60-year-old and 40-year-old Chenin vines and a bit of Cabernet Franc, Grolleau, Gamay and Pineau d’Aunis. The vines grow on schist, limestone and marl – the distinctive terroir of the Layon valley. It is not just the vineyards that make JCG’s wines so special; his Chenins spend a long time pressing softly so as to extract the juice gently – there can be a delicate oxidative quality that adds to the complexity of these wines.