Terra Vita Vinum - The Next Great Loire Estate
15/11/2024
I am pleased to offer the brilliant Loire Valley wines of Terra Vita Vinum.
Terra Vita Vinum is a Chenin Blanc focused and Anjou based producer, where the owners Luc Briand and Bénédicte Petit (pictured above), push every boundary to create the most ideal ecosystem and environment for their vines to thrive. This reflects in the extraordinary quality of the wines, which is even more impressive considering that's it only the first few vintages of the Domaine. In truth, the wines taste like they've been making wines for decades.
They are instant stars of the appellation and drinkers who enjoy pure and classic Chenin Blanc, and peppery mouth filling Cabernet Franc will adore these wines.
In addition to importing these wines to the UK, we also represent Terra Vita Vinum in the USA. If you are US based, please email sales@baronwinesusa.com to place an order.
John Gilman on Terra Vita Vinum:
'...I had the chance to taste for this issue a range of current releases from a new, very high quality producer in the Anjou section of the Loire- Terra Vita Vinum. This estate was newly baptized when the current owners, Luc Briand and Bénédicte Petit purchased the old Domaine Richou estate. The vineyards at Terra Vita Vinum are already being farmed by certified biodynamic practices and everything looks to be in place to one day place this estate up with the very brightest stars in the constellation of Loire Valley’s finest producers. The harvest of 2019 was the first vintage for the couple at Terra Vita Vinum and the 2020s, 2021s and 2022s that I tasted from the domaine were all outstanding...'
Terra Vita Vinum Gabouchons VDF 2020
£240 per case of 6 bt in Original Case In Bond
'A late release of the first vintage ever made of this utterly unique wine! This flagship red is a single vineyard 100% Cabernet Franc cuvee. It is fermented with 100% whole clusters, which is extremely rare in Cabernet Franc production. The winery felt like this vintage was a fuller, richer vintage which could stand up to an extended oak aging treatment. This cuvee was aged for 21 months in barrique, and shows a darker fruit profile than the 2021.' - Baron Wines
Terra Vita Vinum Bigottiere Savennieres 2020
£300 per case of 6 bt in Original Case In Bond
92/100 John Gilman:'The 2020 Savennières “Bigottière” from Terra Vita Vinum is also raised in a combination of vessels in the cellar prior to bottling, with seventy-three percent of the cuvée raised in older oak fuders, fifteen percent in amphora and twelve percent in concrete eggs. The wine comes in at a svelte 13.5 percent octane in this vintage and is fairly reductive when first opened, so needs some time in decanter to start to stir. Once it has had some proper aeration, it offers up a bright and youthfully complex nose of quince, iodine, a beautiful base of soil tones, citrus peel, beeswax and a topnote of dried flowers. On the palate the wine is crisp, full-bodied, nascently complex and beautifully balanced, with a great core of fruit, fine soil inflection and lovely length and grip on the classy finish. The wine is not as reductive on the palate as it is on the nose, and given how nicely it blossomed with some time in decanter, I have to imagine that the reduction will eventually ease off. But, if you are inclined to drink this wine young, plan on at least thirty minutes in decanter to unlock the nose a bit!'
Terra Vita Vinum Grandes Rogeries Anjou Blanc 2021
£270 per case of 6 bt in Original Case In Bond
93/100 John Gilman:'The chenin blanc vines in Grandes Rogeries were hit by frost in the spring of 2021, so the yields were very low here in this vintage. The vines are thirty years of age and the wine is raised in an intriguing combination of seventy percent demi-muids and thirty percent amphorae for twenty-two months prior to assemblage and four more months in stainless steel tanks prior to bottling. The team uses minimal sulfur during the élevage and none at bottling. It is a Sec bottling and tips the scales at fourteen percent. The bouquet is bright, complex and classy, wafting from the glass in a fine mix of lemon, sweet quince, apple, volcanic soil tones, a touch of orange zest and a topnote of heather. On the palate the wine is bright, full-bodied and zesty, with beautiful focus and balance, a lovely core of fruit, fine mineral drive and a long, impeccably balanced and complex finish. Despite this wine also being low sulfur, it is very clean and precise on the backend and does not show any “natty” overtones. Fine, fine juice.'
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