Philippe Foreau - Domaine du Clos Naudin

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Country of Origin: France
Location: Vouvray
People: Philippe Foreau with son Vincent, Owners & Winemakers
Viticulture: Practicing Organic

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Philippe Foreau is the 3rd generation of the Foreau family to produce Vouvray from this fabled domaine, which his grandfather purchased in 1923. Philippe assumed the direction of the domaine in 1983 upon the retirement of his father, André. Since 2015, Philippe works alongside his son Vincent, who continues the family's tradition of crafting some of the greatest white wines anywhere.

The domaine consists of 11.5 hectares planted to Chenin Blanc. The vineyards of the Domaine du Clos Naudin are located in the northeast corner of Vouvray, sited mid-hill with 100% south/southeast/southwest exposures. The principal vineyards are known as Les Perruches and Les Ruettes. The average age of the vines is approximately 45 years. Yields over the past 10 years have averaged 33 hectoliters per hectare. The vineyards are tended pursuant to organic methods without the use of herbicides and worked with organic fertilizers.

Harvest is done manually with numerous passes through the vineyards to select ripe grapes bunch by bunch. Crush is done with a pneumatic press and fermentation occurs in barrels 300 liters in size. The barrels are of varying age with a renewal of about 5% annually. Malolactic fermentation never occurs. The wines ferment slowly in the cave over a two-month period at about 16 degrees Celsius. The wines are racked twice before bottling, which occurs for the still wines normally in mid-May of the year following harvest. Philippe Foreau does not chapitalize his wines. Demi-sec and moelleux cuvées are only made in years when the grapes naturally reach a high degree of ripeness. The sparkling wines remain on the lees for at least 48 months to achieve maximum richness and complexity; disgorging occurs once each quarter. In exceptional vintages, Philippe Foreau produces a “reserve” bottling of sparkling Vouvray that carries the vintage year on the label.

Philippe Foreau's wines age remarkably well. Each wine exhibits extraordinary flavors and aromas of fruit, floral and earth elements.