Domaine le Briseau & Nana, Vins et Cie. in Jasnières/Coteaux du Loir

Domaine le Briseau & Nana, Vins et Cie.

Domaine le Briseau Producer Profile

Quick Facts

Name of Estate	Domaine le Briseau/Nana, Vins et Cie
Region	Loire
Country	France
Proprietor	Nathalie Heredia
Size	6.3 hectares (plus purchased fruit)
Farming	Organic (Not Certified)
Soils	Clay, Silica, Limestone
Grapes grown	Pineau D'Aunis, Chenin Blanc, Cinsault, Terret Gris, Clairette
Fun facts	VIGNERON NON CONFORME!

VIGNERON NON CONFORME!

Name of Estate	Domaine le Briseau/Nana, Vins et Cie
Region	Loire
Country	France
Proprietor	Nathalie Heredia
Size	6.3 hectares (plus purchased fruit)
Farming	Organic (Not Certified)
Soils	Clay, Silica, Limestone
Grapes grown	Pineau D'Aunis, Chenin Blanc, Cinsault, Terret Gris, Clairette
Fun facts	VIGNERON NON CONFORME!

Get to know
Domaine le Briseau/Nana, Vins et Cie

producer profile 31.05.2019

Domaine le Briseau Producer Profile

Part 1: The Christan Chaussard Chronicles: The late Christian Chaussard, like the proverbial cat, was a man who lived several lives. As a youth, he was stung by a venomous fish while performing his military service in Tahiti. Christian was diagnosed with Guillain-Barré syndrome, leaving him paralyzed from the waist down; doctors told him he'd never walk again. Through sheer willpower and years of rehabilitation, he managed to baffle medical experts and regain mobility, albeit with a limp that would follow him for the rest of his life.  His dream had always to be a doctor, but by the time he was back on his feet, the rehabilitation had consumed too much time and energy. After years spent in the public works sector, he focused on learning <glossary title="1103">viticulture</glossary> and <glossary title="422">oenology</glossary>, which he eventually started teaching himself in <glossary term="Amboise" title="100">Amboise</glossary> while running his <glossary title="427">estate</glossary> in <glossary title="1121">Vouvray</glossary>. Along with fellow professor Thierry Puzelat, Christian would teach the regularly assigned curriculum to students, then tell them to do the exact opposite: work <glossary term="Organic" title="746">organically</glossary>, use <glossary term="Native Yeast" title="538">native yeasts</glossary>, add as little <glossary term="Sulfites" title="993">sulfur</glossary> as possible and avoid <glossary term="Filtration" title="447">filtration</glossary>. Thierry,eventually got fired. While in <glossary title="1121">Vouvray</glossary>, a fateful accident led to the discovery and re-branding of the most ancient technique for sparkling wine. Christian had bottled one of his <glossary title="1121">Vouvrays </glossary>with <glossary title="853">residual sugar</glossary>—it was probably a <glossary title="386">demi-sec</glossary>—and it accidentally started <glossary title="938">refermenting</glossary>. At first he thought it was ruined, but after tasting it he decided he liked it. Doing some insightful research, Christian realized that this was actually a technique from the past and started doing it intentionally. He dubbed the style "<glossary term="Pétillant Naturel" title="778">pétillant naturel</glossary>" and later "<glossary title="778">pét-nat</glossary>" for short.  Friends like Thierry Puzelat, René Mosse, Hervé Villemade and Pascal Potaire began making their own <glossary term="Pétillant Naturel" title="778">pét-nats</glossary> and using the term. The style and name progressively spread, eventually becoming a ubiquitous category in the <glossary term="Natural WIne" title="708">natural wine</glossary> world; examples of <glossary term="Pétillant Naturel" title="778">pétillant naturel</glossary> can now be found around the globe. Unfortunately, a series of climactic hardships forced him to abandon his <glossary term="Vouvray" title="1121">Vouvray</glossary> <glossary title="427">estate</glossary>, so he also quit teaching and decided to be a winemaker in the “new world”. Part 2: Nathalie Gaubicher and Le Briseau: Before accomplishing that goal, Christian met Nathalie Gaubicher, a Swiss actress with an <glossary title="422">oenologist</glossary> and <glossary title="969">sommelier</glossary> diploma. They fell in love and set out to find vines somewhere in France. Their search took them all around the country and to all wine regions. In 2002, they settled in the <glossary title="556">Jasnières</glossary>/<glossary title="348">Coteaux-du-Loir</glossary> area in northern <glossary title="1036">Touraine</glossary>. The area is 155 miles southwest of <glossary title="761">Paris</glossary> between the cities of <glossary title="587">Le Mans</glossary> and <glossary title="1038">Tours</glossary>, 28 miles north of <glossary title="1121">Vouvray</glossary>. The entirety of <glossary title="556">Jasnières</glossary> covers 80 <glossary title="523">hectares</glossary> of vines, and <glossary title="348">Coteaux-du-Loir</glossary> about 200 <glossary title="523">hectares</glossary>. The soils are largely all <glossary title="301">clay</glossary> and <glossary title="955">silica</glossary> over a <glossary title="991">subsoil</glossary> of <glossary title="596">limestone</glossary>. Domaine le Briseau was started with four <glossary title="523">hectares</glossary> of vines planted mainly with <glossary title="281">Chenin Blanc</glossary> and <glossary title="799">Pineau d’Aunis</glossary>. The name "Briseau" comes from a <glossary title="">lieu-dit </glossary>where the soils get so hard that they shatter ("brise") any tools used to work them.  In 2005, Christian and Natalie started a small <glossary title="729">négoce</glossary> called Nana, Vins & Cie, for which they bought grapes on the vines to <glossary title="521">harvest</glossary> with their team. These grapes are <glossary title="1104">vinified</glossary> the same way as the <glossary title="427">estate's</glossary> in order to produce totally <glossary title="708">natural wines</glossary>, and over the years had focused more and more on grapes from the  <glossary title="117">Ardèche</glossary>. Today the grapes are exclusively sourced from from Emile Hérédia's <glossary term="Old Vines" title="740">oldest vines</glossary> in the Languedoc.  By 2007, the <glossary title="427">estate</glossary> had grown to 11 <glossary title="523">hectares</glossary>. All vineyard work is done according to the principles of <glossary title="746">organic</glossary> <glossary title="1103">viticulture</glossary>: no  <glossary title="1142">pesticides</glossary>, <glossary title="543">insecticides</glossary> or <glossary title="279">chemical</glossary> <glossary title="442">fertilizers</glossary> are used; nettle and horsetail decoctions are sprayed on the <glossary title="1184">foliage</glossary>; <glossary title="333">copper</glossary> is used in modest quantity (less than 5kg/<glossary title="523">HA</glossary>); the vines are <glossary title="810">plowed</glossary> and grass allowed to grow in the rows. In 2006, the <glossary title="427">estate</glossary> started its <glossary term="Conversion" title="332">conversion</glossary> to <glossary title="160">biodynamic</glossary> principles. In September 2012, shortly after getting through a long battle with cancer, Christian was tragically killed in a tractor accident. His influence on the <glossary title="602">Loire valley</glossary> and the <glossary title="708">natural wine</glossary> movement as a whole (he was president of the <glossary title="123">AVN</glossary> for five years) has been crucial in shaping a new generation of forward thinking <glossary title="1089">vignerons</glossary>. We miss him, but take comfort in Natalie continuing their collective work at Le Briseau. Nathalie, now re-married to fellow <glossary title="1089">vigneron</glossary> Emile Hérédia, currently splits her time between the <glossary title="602">Loire</glossary> and the <glossary title="579">Languedoc</glossary> where Emile had decamped to start the <glossary title="427">estate</glossary> Domaine des Dimanches. She has shrunk the size of Briseau to 6.3 <glossary title="523">hectares</glossary> and has a local, full time employee in the vines. She returns for essential moments in the season, namely <glossary title="834">pruning</glossary>, <glossary title="521">harvest</glossary> and the <glossary title="1104">vinifications</glossary>. Besides the reduction in size, the major evolutions have occurred in the <glossary title="254">cellar</glossary>: <glossary title="1140">vats</glossary> are no longer saturated with <glossary title="310">CO2</glossary>, there are no more <glossary title="795">pigeages</glossary> or <glossary title="74">aging</glossary> in <glossary title="1126">wood</glossary>. The wines do not see any <glossary title="993">S02</glossary> until <glossary title="185">bottling</glossary>.

producer visit 07.08.2019

This visit to Domaine Le Briseau took place in July, 2013

This visit to Domaine Le Briseau took place in July, 2013. Words by Jules Dressner, photos by Jules Dressner and John Kafarski. We began our visit in the <glossary title="760">parcel</glossary> of <glossary title="281">Chenin Blanc</glossary> that produces the "Kharaktêr" <glossary title="363">cuvée</glossary>. <img src="http://louisdressner.com/uploads/images/article/2019_Aug_07//90/88/9088bce9c9d901856e0b3375bd5b6da8.jpg" /> <img src="http://louisdressner.com/uploads/images/article/2019_Aug_07//df/69/df6991d2945211b3a9a78263a120a800.jpg" /> <img src="http://louisdressner.com/uploads/images/article/2019_Aug_07//8d/d5/8dd57e640e7e0460e532543bf5d70aac.jpg" /> <img src="http://louisdressner.com/uploads/images/article/2019_Aug_07//40/33/403371eb5600a02dbe1adbbd85f433be.jpg" /> The soils here are composed of <glossary title="596">limestone</glossary> and <glossary title="455">flint</glossary>.  <img src="http://louisdressner.com/uploads/images/article/2019_Aug_07//45/99/45998638a1aa3bea90d41122ffb9ba9d.jpg" /> Recently, Nathalie had to rip out some old vines that were in bad shape and dangerous to work with the tractor.  "If I replant, we will definitely make it parallel to the slope like the rest of the vines."  With those old timers gone, the vines now average 45 years old.  Just a little further up, we drove up to an unassuming path that is actually the geographical divide between <glossary title="556">Jasnières</glossary> and <glossary title="348">Coteaux du Loir</glossary>. On the <glossary title="348">CdL</glossary> side, three <glossary title="760">parcels</glossary> of <glossary title="799">Pineau d'Aunis</glossary> grow on the same <glossary title="596">limestone</glossary> and <glossary title="455">flint</glossary> soils as "Kharaktêr". The vines here are 35, total 75 <glossary term="Are" title="1208">ares</glossary> and interestingly were much taller and developed than the <glossary title="281">Chenin</glossary> we'd just seen.  I didn't take any pictures of these for some reason, so you'll just have to take my word for it.  From there, we jumped back into the LDM Mobile™ to visit the <glossary title="594">lieu-dit</glossary> Le Briseau, the site the <glossary title="427">estate</glossary> takes its name from.  <img src="http://louisdressner.com/uploads/images/article/2019_Aug_07//ae/a2/aea23197724f6aaf83d95be01c3f0924.jpg" /> <img src="http://louisdressner.com/uploads/images/article/2019_Aug_07//ae/2e/ae2e8b8739c386d8f4ac6b5dcf979d17.jpg" /> <img src="http://louisdressner.com/uploads/images/article/2019_Aug_07//25/a8/25a874b14259abc4eaedd6d5c634b32d.jpg" /> <img src="http://louisdressner.com/uploads/images/article/2019_Aug_07//0f/6e/0f6e3a747b55dee90f3e7e7141a8e4b4.jpg" /> <img src="http://louisdressner.com/uploads/images/article/2019_Aug_07//14/10/141007a8a445a671e785833da9b5311f.jpg" /> This was the first piece of land Christian and NatHalie purchased after moving from <glossary title="1121">Vouvray</glossary>. The land represents about 4 <glossary title="523">ha</glossary>, with 1.36 <glossary title="523">ha</glossary> planted in <glossary title="281">Chenin Blanc</glossary>. Le Briseau roughly translates to "the shatterer", as the <glossary term="Subsoil" title="991">subsoil</glossary> consists of a solid layer of <glossary title="455">flint</glossary> that is near impossible to penetrate.  "Tractors and teals always break here." The superficial soils consist of heavy <glossary title="301">clay</glossary> mixed with very rocky chunks of <glossary title="455">flint</glossary>. <img src="http://louisdressner.com/uploads/images/article/2019_Aug_07//f0/22/f022762c4abb6d8f42edf5b2715aeeb8.jpg" /> <img src="http://louisdressner.com/uploads/images/article/2019_Aug_07//43/37/43375ca32802bcf539ee798484f45d84.jpg" /> The oldest vines are 60+ years old and produce an insanely low 8<glossary title="528">hl/h</glossary>. In really good years this produces the "Briseau Blanc", otherwise, as was the case in 2012, the wine is called "Patapon Blanc". Le Briseau is a <glossary title="305">clos</glossary>, and this peaceful atmosphere was where our late friend Christian Chaussard liked working the most. In bittersweet fashion, it was here that he had his fatal tractor accident last year. His ashes are buried at the foot of this shelter, just a few feet from the vines.  <img src="http://louisdressner.com/uploads/images/article/2019_Aug_07//b7/c6/b7c6b2d293809a84aad60362c4901798.jpg" /> It's comforting (and admittedly poetic) that Christian would be one with the very soils he loved so much.  Heading back from Le Briseau, we drove back to Nathalie's home to taste some currently <glossary term="Bottling" title="185">bottled</glossary> stuff. I could tell you all about how good everything tasted, but I'd much rather show you PICTURES OF NATHALIE'S ADORABLE DOG GROVER!!! <img src="http://louisdressner.com/uploads/images/article/2019_Aug_07//d6/1c/d61c0e01377aac7c7e54c1fa9245e75d.jpg" /> <img src="http://louisdressner.com/uploads/images/article/2019_Aug_07//7a/78/7a786b97ee77c953daf8d6eb94d79d19.jpg" /> Our final vineyard visit was a quick walk to Le Briseau's other major <glossary title="594">lieu-dit</glossary>, Les Mortiers. <img src="http://louisdressner.com/uploads/images/article/2019_Aug_07//d1/c4/d1c4372b332ee44ccdf2576afe73f897.jpg" /> <img src="http://louisdressner.com/uploads/images/article/2019_Aug_07//ac/08/ac08cc59236137adf2f5419346887924.jpg" /> <img src="http://louisdressner.com/uploads/images/article/2019_Aug_07//69/fb/69fb329630c1a413f9a03196d7261c60.jpg" /> <img src="http://louisdressner.com/uploads/images/article/2019_Aug_07//2f/16/2f16f1524247a7aecbce804be9d7a10f.jpg" /> The soils here are heavy <glossary title="301">clay</glossary>.  <img src="http://louisdressner.com/uploads/images/article/2019_Aug_07//10/9a/109afcfc927e3f838b5d2e540af0ac9e.jpg" /> Les Mortiers roughly translates to "wet cement", because if it rains, the <glossary title="301">clay</glossary> soils become impenetrable after drying up. A lot of impenetrable soils around these parts... In total, four <glossary title="523">hectares</glossary> of <glossary title="799">Pineau d'Aunis</glossary> are planted here. We ended our tasting in Nathalie's <glossary title="254">cellar</glossary>, where we got to taste some stuff, including "Kharaktêr" 2009, 2011 and 2012, as well as "Les Mortiers" 2011.  <img src="http://louisdressner.com/uploads/images/article/2019_Aug_07//ae/c2/aec2056bddf4f5c6f824944ebad0759b.jpg" /> Before leaving, Grover made sure to mark his territory on the LDM Mobile™ so other <glossary title="1089">vigneron</glossary> dogs would know who's the boss.  <img src="http://louisdressner.com/uploads/images/article/2019_Aug_07//39/53/39531cf5d8e870ecdc3aa818c15b1c32.jpg" />

producer profile 31.05.2019

Domaine le Briseau Producer Profile

producer visit 07.08.2019

This visit to Domaine Le Briseau took place in July, 2013