Beautiful Natural Wines from the Puzelat Family at the Clos du Tue-Boeuf, 2018 and 2019!
8/24/20 -
The Clos du Tue-Boeuf in Les Montils (AOC Cheverny) is one of the most important domains of the Loire Valley, particularly for those who value organic farming and natural vinifications with zero or minimal added sulfur. Winemaking at the Clos dates back to the middle ages - the wines were enjoyed by King Francois 1er in the 16th century. The Puzelat family has been present in Les Montils since the 15th century - it was Jean and Solange Puzelat who took over the estate in 1947, and transformed the polyculture farm principally into vineyards. Their sons Jean-Marie and Thierry grew up in the vines, and after working at estates in France and abroad, returned to take over the family domaine, first Jean-Marie in 1989, joined by Thierry in 1994. Quickly becoming part of the growing natural wine scene in France, the brothers stopped all additives in their vinifications in 1994 and became certified organic in the vines in 1996. I remember how exciting it was to taste their wines at the Salon des Vins de Loire in Angers in 1997, after the headache of tasting hundreds of wines from conventional farming, with 100+ mg/liter of sulfur! The work of Jean-Marie and Thierry has inspired dozens of vigneron(ne)s throughout the Loire to follow their path, and with new parcels and many experiments, the Puzelats' wines have gained in elegance, consistency and finesse while retaining the excitement and freedom of their early productions.
The affable Jean-Marie has now supposedly retired, and Thierry's daugher Zoé has officially taken her place in the family cellar. We tasted 15 wines, most of which have arrived in NY, with Thierry and Zoé at the Salon Les Pénitentes in Angers last winter. It was a fabulous tasting with wines ranging from simply delicious to unique, complex, fascinating and age-worthy. We are excited to offer these outstanding wines, but we're sorry that many are in short supply. These are among our very favorite natural wines of France, and despite the inane tariffs imposed by our government, they remain reasonably priced - we urge you to try them!
Read on for details about the vineyards and vines…
Isolated from other agriculture, the vines of Tue-Boeuf are part of a mosaic of hedges and forests which make up a balanced ecosystem. While some vines are 115 years-old, the majority of the parcels date from the renovation of the vineyards in the 1960’s by Jean and Solange Puzelat.
Wines produced by the Clos du Tue-Boeuf are roughly divided into three parts:
Wines from the original Clos consisting of about 5 hectares in the commune of Les Montils, made from Pinot Noir, Gamay, Sauvignon Blanc, Fié Gris, Chardonnay and Menu Pineau in AOC Cheverny, as well as wines receiving the Vin de France label made from Romorantin, Pineau d’Aunis and Pinot Gris. The terroir here is clay with silex over limestone of Blois on south/southeast facing slopes above the river Beuvron. The Romorantin, an “eccentric” variety, is grown on sandy soils;
Wines from 3+ hectares in the commune of Monthou-Sur-Bièvre, about 2 kilometres away, in the appellation Touraine, acquired after Thierry’s arrival in the 1990s. Beginning in 2019 these wines are labeled Vin de France and are made from Côt, Pineau d’Aunis, Gamay, Meslier, Sauvignon Blanc and Menu Pineau (Orbois). Here, “Brin de Chevre” and “Guerrerie” are parcels of clay with silex, while “Buisson Pouilleux” and “Petit Buisson” are on sand and gravel soils.
Wines from purchased grapes sourced from organic growers, mostly in the Cher Valley of Touraine, used for the cuvees “Vin Blanc, “Vin Rouge” and “Vin Rosé.” The devastating frosts now occurring almost every year in the Loire Valley have forced most small estates to buy grapes in order to survive. The results, in these three wines, are uniformly delicious…
The estate is particularly proud of their patrimony of “local” grapes – Thierry talks about Menu Pineau in the “Brin de Chevre” vineyard – "This grape is super resistant. Esca has never been a problem and it resists mildew. The three really local varieties - Menu Pineau, Romorantin and Pineau D'Aunis - are always the most resistant to illness. Gamay and Sauvignon have only been planted here for 100 years, and they are always sick. This is why we've started replanting only these old varieties."
Grapes are harvested by hand, no additives are used during vinification, a tiny dose of SO2 is added at bottling if needed. Fermentations with wild yeasts are long, aging is primarily in used barrique or tronconic wooden vats.
At the Clos du Tue-Boeuf “to make wine is to position ourselves as the intermediary between the soil and the glass of wine.”
