Pierre Ménard, 2018 Anjou Rouge “Orion Alpha”
Pierre Ménard is from a family of vignerons from around the hamlet of Valette in Faye d'Anjou. Following his viticultural studies in Angers, he spent time doing vintages in Bordeaux, Porto, New Zealand, the Niagara Peninsula in Canada and Hungary, before returning home to establish his own domaine with some of his family's parcels, and his first vintage was 2013. Today Pierre is farming around 4 hectares of vines in Faye d'Anjou, mostly planted with Chenin Blanc, save for a tiny parcel of Sauvignon Blanc and a little less than a half hectare of Cabernet Franc that is used for his Orion Alpha Anjou Rouge.
So today's wine is naturally taking us to Anjou. And since launching this project in the fall of 2020, my first trip to the Loire Valley was in May 2022, and since then I have travelled to the region an additional 6 times in two years and I have still yet to set foot in the heart of Anjou. And the primary reason for this is this is Chenin Blanc country. While Cabernet Franc is still the most planted variety in the Anjou-Saumur region, representing around 40% of the vineyard area, once we've hit the heart of Anjou, which is about 30km west of Saumur, the majority of the Cabernet Franc is used for rosé production, and white wines reign supreme thanks in part to the history and prestige of the sweet wine appellations of Coteaux du Layon, Bonnezeaux and the grand cru Quarts de Chaume. Despite this shift in focus towards whites and rosés, many domanies still make at least one or two examples of Anjou Rouge or Anjou Villages, typically based with Cabernet Franc, though we do see the odd 100% Cabernet Sauvignon here as well, and I do make a point of tasting these wines regularly at the salons, and these expressions of Cabernet Franc fascinate me. They fascinate me because they typically present quite differently that those of Saumur, Saumur-Champigny, Chinon, Bourgueil and St-Nicolas-de-Bourgueil, and a lot of that has to do with the shift in terroir in this part of the Loire Valley.
Here in Western Anjou, around the village of Thouarcé, is where the "old rocks" of the Massif Armoricain take over from the limestone soils of the Paris Basin. Collectively known as Anjou Noir, these soils are a predominantly a complex array of schists, as well as some slates and sandstones, all of which are these dark, dense, brittle rocks, with poor water holding capacity, particularly compared to the limestone soils that dominate to the east.
Also, in this part of Anjou, we are in the rain shadow of the Haut-Bocage Vendée, which was part of an ancient mountain range that was once as high as the Alps, and over hundred of millions of years it has weathered down to just a couple hundred metres in most place, but that elevation is enough to help block out the precipitation from the Atlantic. Western Anjou only receives about 600 to 700m of precipitation annually, making this one of the driest areas in the Loire.
While these soils are ideal for the production of Chenin Blanc, for Cabernet Franc it is a bit more challenging. Cabernet Franc as a grape variety is not drought tolerant, and the combination of this aired, well-draining soils and the lower rainfall, means that Cabernet Franc can struggle and suffer from hydric stress. This can lead to an imbalance in the vine, which can not only lead to excessive pyrazines, but because of Cabernet Franc's structure and inherent rusticity, this hydric stress amplify Cabernet Franc's rusticity, by giving a resulting wine with more rustic or 'strict' tannins. I have also noticed from my tastings that the parcels planted to Cabernet Franc in Western Anjou tend to be show vintage variation in a more pronounced way. So all this is to say that site selection is quite critical, and the sites suitable for making exceptional Cabernet Franc are few and far between. But on these superior sites, and in exceptional vintages, these expressions of Cabernet Franc can be very compelling, with impressive structure, density, power and complexity.
Which brings me to Pierre Ménard's Orion Alpha - a wine that has consistently ranked as one of my top expressions of Anjou Rouge. So this wine is coming from parcels in the commune of Faye d'Anjou, which has historically been regarded as one of the top communes of the Coteaux du Layon appellation. The commune is situated on the north side, or right bank, of the Layon River, just west of the commune of Thouracé. The commune's viticultural area stretches from the banks of the Layon River inland towards the Forêt of Beaulieu and the Forêt of Brissac in the northwest and northeast parts of the commune, respectively. The topography of the commune is quite undulating, with very steep slopes that have varying exposures hugging the Layon River, and then the topography gets progressively more flat as you move further inland, north towards the forests. In general, the conditions get progressively cooler as you move inland, and the warmest sites following the prime slopes closer to the Layon River.
In terms of soils, what dominates this side of the Layon is the St-Georges series of schists, as well as pockets of sandstone and soils of volcanic origin like Rhyolite and Spilite. The soils of volcanic origin tend to be concentrated in the western part of Faye d'Anjou, while the schists and sandstones and scattered throughout the commune. Topsoils tend to be quite varied in texture and depth, though for the most part we find silt-dominated soils, that is 40 to 60% silt content, with a few pockets of very sandy soils in some places as well as the odd pocket of more clayey soils as well. The topsoils along the prime slopes close to the Layon tend to be more shallow with a stronger impact of the mother rock, and as you move inland the topsoils get deeper and the subsoil is dominated by clays.
So the Orion Alpha is coming from 0.38 hectares of vines from two lieux-dits, Vallet and Clos des Mailles. Both of these lieux-dits are in the southeastern part of Faye d'Anjou, with Vallet being a little further inland and Clos des Mailles hugging the prime slopes close to the Layon. The parcel at Vallet is a 0.22 hectare parcel that was planted in 2008, and it is situated mid to the upper part of the slope on an east facing exposure. The shallow topsoil is clayey in texture mixed with quartz, followed by a bedrock that is comprised of sandstone and schist beginning around 50cm below the surface. The second parcel at Clos des Mailles is 0.16 hectares and the vines are quite old, planted in the 1950s, and the Cabernet Franc vines are located just below from Pierre's Chenin vines, both of which are planted in the upper part of the lieu-dit, high on the slope with a more northwest-facing exposure. Here the topsoils are also quite shallow, with a silty-sand clay texture, followed by bedrock of green to ochre sandstone-schists.
Pierre shared that he feels these two plots are very well adapted for Cabernet Franc. Vallet has a higher proportion of clay, which helps with moisture regulation, so the vines very rarely suffer from hydric stress, while the old vines of the Cabernet Franc of Clos des Mailles on in a area that has proven good for reds that is a little warmer and earlier. He says in warmer vintages like 2018, the parcel at Vallet brings more power and breadth to the wine, while the Clos des Mailles brings aromatics and a floral quality, and these two parcels are quite complementary in that way and bring balance to his expression of Cabernet Franc.
In terms of winemaking, the fruit is hand-harvested, hand-sorted and hand destemmed. The fermentation is whole berry with a natural pied de cuve starter, in wide 10hl stainless steel tanks. Pierre said his choice to use a wider tank, as opposed to a taller one, is intentional, because it means that there is a large surface area for the grape skins to be in contact with the fermenting wine, and thus does not need a lot by way of extractive techniques. He will do a little punching down at the beginning of the fermentation just to release some juice and then it is virtually untouched for the duration of the fermentation. The total time on skins is about 3 weeks. Following the post-fermentation maceration, the free run wine and press wine are combined and the majority, about 3/4, is aged in older barrels, the rest in stainless steel. And the aging is for around 9 months before bottling.
Key wine wine facts below:
Producer: Domaine Pierre Ménard
Appellation: Anjou Rouge
Commune: Faye d'Anjou
Lieux-Dits: Vallet, Clos des Mailles
Soils: 50cm clayey with quarts over schistous sandstone; silty-sand over ochre to green sandstone-schists
Alcohol: 14.1%
