Pinot Noir Reserve Plante Gate Domaine Saint Nicolas Thierry Michon 2013

Pinot Noir Reserve “La Grande Piece” Domaine Saint Nicolas, Fiefs-Vendeen, Loire valley littoral Pinot, biodynamic, old vines, flavours of raspberry and the sea breeze. This is an extremely elegant Pinot Noir from this lesser-known region of the Loire Maritime, and you can really feel the Atlantic sea breeze permeating the wine. It’s rare to find a coastal Pinot Noir grown on schist, though with examples such as this it’s not easy to see why! A modest 13%, with fresh raspberry characteristics and tangible salinity, with poised acidity and lovely texture. It spends 15 months in large 400l French oak barrels, which give the wine its name. As with all his wines, it is made according to biodynamic certification, with spontaneous fermentation and minimal intervention. A must for lovers of Pinot Noir, or for anyone who enjoys the fascinating variety that the Loire valley has to offer.

Thierry's father purchased the vineyard at Ile d’Olonne in 1970 to build the winery that Thierry now runs.

The wines of Saint-Nicholas are unique due to the vineyard's proximity to the ocean and resulting micro-climate: sea, woodland and the marshes of the Ile d’Olonne. They have a wide variety of grapes across this 37 hectare estate, and it is all farmed biodynamically. No easy task! For Thierry Michon, the schist and silex soils so close to the Atlantic are key to his success. His vineyards never see a non-organic product. He raises his own cows simply for the manure they produce which he religiously spreads between the vines. He has also slowly purchased buffer zones all around his property to prevent chemical products from other winemakers from seeping into his parcels.