BONNET-HUTEAU
Run by Rémi Bonnet (president of the region’s Maîtres Vignerons cooperative cellar) and his brother Jean-Jacques, the estate is based around the ruins of a château dating to the middle ages and has 48 hectares under vines, with some 42 ha planted with Muscadet. This already substantial estate has further increased with the purchase of 10 ha of the neighbouring Château des Gautronnières which the brothers are converting to organic farming.
Planted mainly on the light sand-on-gneiss soil of La Chapelle-Heulin, the vineyards give a fresh, aromatic and primeur style for the main 'La Levraudière' cuvée, while the mica-schist and gabbro rock gives a spicier, fruit-rich yet more mineral style to the La Tarcière. The amphibolite ‘roche verte’ gives the Gautronnière an equally mineral richness. Run according to the rules of La Lutte Raisonnée, the vineyards are grassed through and all fertilisation is organic. Yields are held to 50/55 hectos/hectare and attention is paid to keeping the bunches as aereated as possible to ensure thicker, healthier skins – and ever greater ripeness, traits encouraged with ‘sierra’ and manual thinning and regular increases in leaf height throughout the growing season. After picking (by hand for the old vines Héritage cuvée), pressing is by pneumatic press. Following a cool débourbage, fermentations are in thermo-regulated glass-lined underground or stainless steel vats, with temperatures held to 17 – 20°C to ensure maximum fruit and freshness. Now using maceration pelliculaire on all the crop to give weight and gras and with around 15% undergoing a cold stabulation before fermentation, the different cuvées are matured with their lees in suspension, gaining further complexity and giving wines with finesse, fruit and volume.
Wines Offered
Bonnet-Huteau Muscadet de Sevre et Maine Sur Lie Les Dabinieres 2009 - IWC 89 points BUY »
Bonnet-Huteau Muscadet de Sevre et Maine Sur Lie La Levraudiere 2009 - IWC 88 points BUY »
