This sparkling rosé is made mostly of Chenin Blanc from Renaud’s youngest vines, along with a touch of Pineau d’Aunis. The Chenin was pressed directly and began fermentation in cuve, with a touch of Aunis from his Adonis cuvée added just before being moved to bottle. The wine spent a year on its lees before being disgorged by hand. Pale in colour, this is crisp and clean, with fine bubbles carrying delicate notes of red berries, minerals and spice. A wonderful apéritif.

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.