• Home
• Wine guide
• Loire
• Clau de Nell

Domain: Clau de Nell

This domaine with its long-standing reputation was taken over in the early 2000s by a couple of winegrowers from Burgundy, Nelly and Claude Pichard who sought to get the very best from the terroir by using the area’s three traditional red grape varieties (Cabernet Franc, Cabernet Sauvignon and Grolleau) and following natural methods both with the vines and in the cellar. In 2008 the domaine had gone into liquidation and was bought by Anne-Claude Leflaive, from the famous, eponymous Puligny-Montrachet domaine. Then in 2009, a new manager was recruited, Sylvain Potain, who is still in charge of the domaine today. Drawing "inspiration" from Domaine Leflaive, biodynamic methods are used to work the vines (but with the skill that comes only from lengthy experience) and vinification is also carried out as naturally as possible by striving for extensive extraction but through extended infusion rather than by physically working the must (pigeagesfor example). Ageing lasts from 12 to 24 months in troglodyte caves. A domaine that is leading the way in Anjou.