François Blanchard

Lémeré, Touraine

François Blanchard lives with his young family in the Chateau du Perron just outside the village of Lemere, about 40 minutes south of Tours.

His beloved vineyard Le Grand Clere is an extraordinary example of biodiversity in a vineyard. Francois has planted various fruit trees throughout, allows vines to grow over vines and encourages as much wildlife as possible to pass through his two very small parcels. The result is very low yields and incredibly palate-saturating wines. The altitude here is relatively low and the soils are marked by clay and very, very large fragments of silex, making it impossible to turn the soil. The site is planted to Sauvignon Blanc and Cabernet Franc and the vines are roughly 45 years old.

Beyond this Francois is simply a remarkable character. He is extraordinarily generous and firmly committed to farming and living holistically. He grew up in the Loire and spent years working in Tours as a professional jazz musician. He is exceptionally talented as a musician and music remains an enormously important part of the household. He made the decision more than ten years ago, however, to return to the family farm and focus on creating a self sustaining system of agriculture.

Today, the family grows a large proportion of the weekly vegetables and grains and Francois, believing that plants should not be expected to produce quality fruit every single year, has begun making lambic beer from cereal grown at the farm.

Francois is incredibly serious about making natural wine. His farming is simple, dedicated and effective. Through allowing as much native flora and fauna to exist as possible in his vineyard Le Grand Clere, it avoided any attacks from the Drosophila Suzukii insect that brought so many challenges to vignerons across northern Europe in 2014, simply because there were so many natural predators for it within. The vineyard was totally spared and the quality of the 2014 vintage can be readily witnessed in Francois' wines.

To visit Francois and his family is not only to taste incredibly high quality wine but to experience hospitality at its very finest in an environment marked wholly by positivity.

 

Information on previous wines

  • Equal parts cabernets sauvignon and franc, grown over clay and silex in La Grand Cléré and fermented together as whole bunches. After a period of maceration, the free-run juice is run to tank to create this cuvee, while the remaining juice is pressed to create La Presse

    2017 Elegant in structure, with polished tannins and great clarity of fruit.

    2016 Vibrant, with crunchy red fruit from the vintage, though still with concentration from the low-yielding vines.

    2015 From one of our favourite vintages. Very pure and correct, and with lots of compressed primary matter and information, this is still a young wine and will continue to evolve for a number of years.

    2014 A great year, resulting in a wine with excellent primary fruit and now showing a pleasing amount of leathery development.

  • Equal parts cabernets sauvignon and franc, grown over clay and silex in La Grand Cléré, fermented together as whole bunches. After a period of maceration, the free-run juice is run to tank to create Contrebasse, while the remaining juice is pressed to create this cuvee, also in tank

    2020 Resting.

    2019 Resting.

    2017 Medium-bodied, deep, long and precise, with great clarity of fruit.

    2015 This was called Flap Flap Rouge in this year. From one of the great vintages in this part of the Loire, this is compact and complex and will evolve gracefully for many years.

  • 2020 Cabernet franc from young vines planted over clay, limestone and sand in Parc du Perron. Fermented as whole bunches for three weeks before being pressed to cuve for a year of elevage. Great varietal character, with vibrant fruit and earthen, spicy vegetal notes.

  • 2016 Cabernet franc and cabernet sauvignon pressings, destemmed, fermented in concrete and pressed to barrel. 11% ABV with a small amount of dissolved CO2.

  • 2018 Cabernet franc and cabernet sauvignon. The only wine made from the domaine’s red grapes in 2018, this is enormously deep and concentrated and will evolve over the long term.

  • Sauvignon blanc from 50-year-old vines planted over clay and silex in Francois’ vineyard La Grand Cléré. Picked at great ripeness and pressed directly to old barrels for an extended period of elevage

    2020 Intensely fragrant and generous. Oxidative flavours of ripe, dried fruit, nuts and honey, buoyed by an energetic and gently effervescent body.

    2015 Resting.

  • Sauvignon blanc from 50-year-old vines planted over clay and silex in Francois’ vineyard La Grand Cléré. The fruit is destemmed and macerated for an extended period before being pressed to old barrels

    2020 A deep amber wine, heady with aromas of baked fruit, earth and spice. Very dense and with great length.

    2019 Resting.

    2018 Deep and lightly oxidative from a powerful, very low yielding year.

    2017 Offers a sort of mid-point between the 2015 and the 2016. Precise and composed fruit, with long and refined tannins and harmonious acidity.

    2016 A brilliant year for this wine, fresh and powerfully aromatic.

    2015 From an exceptional vintage. Sauvignon blanc fermented on skins in an open fermenter, resulting in a tannic yet very fresh and very long wine.

  • Sauvignon blanc from 50-year-old vines planted over clay and silex in Francois’ vineyard La Grand Cléré, macerated for an extended period in amphora

    2018 From a powerful, low-yielding year. Amber in the glass. Complex, textural and layered, with oxidative notes, chewy phenolics and fresh acidity.

    2017 Amber in the glass. Complex, textural and layered, with oxidative notes, chewy phenolics and fresh acidity.

  • 2014 Sauvignon blanc from 50-year-old vines planted over clay and silex in Francois’ vineyard La Grand Cléré, raised in barrel.

  • 2014 Sauvignon blanc from 50-year-old vines planted over clay and silex in Francois’ vineyard La Grand Cléré, macerated for an extended period in amphora.

  • 2015 From an exceptional vintage. Sauvignon blanc from both Francois’ vineyards, one third of which was macerated on skins. Pulpy and primary.

    2014 Resting.

  • 2018 Resting.

  • 2020 Resting.

  • Made from organic malt and hops purchased from Germany. Malty and acidic, with less impression of hops. Current release was made in 2021.