Wine of the week: Domaine du Closel Savennières Clos du Papillon 2022
db's 'Wine of the week' pays tribute to the late Evelyne de Pontbriand, manager of Domaine du Closel in the Loire Valley. The post Wine of the week: Domaine du Closel Savennières Clos du Papillon 2022 appeared first on The Drinks Business.
db's 'Wine of the week' pays tribute to the late Evelyne de Pontbriand, manager of Domaine du Closel in the Loire Valley.
De Pontbriand died in November 2024 at the age of 74. She only turned her hand to the wine industry in 2000, having previously worked with political refugees and underprivileged young people in France. In 2001, she would take over management of Domaine du Closel from her mother.
From 2008 until 2016, de Pontbriand served as president of the Savennières appellation, and in 2017 she cofounded the Academie du Chenin.
Asked what most frustrated her in the world of wine for the upcoming 2025 Master Winemakers guide, de Pontbriand said: "People who are pretentious and make bad wines. The fashion around natural wines that smell like horses and taste like mice frustrates me a lot. That means a whole generation will think forever that this is 'good taste'. Fine wines are something completely different, the result of centuries of civilisation; they are the opposite of wild, even if they can be made very naturally."
De Pontbriand died in November 2024 at the age of 74. She only turned her hand to the wine industry in 2000, having previously worked with political refugees and underprivileged young people in France. In 2001, she would take over management of Domaine du Closel from her mother.
From 2008 until 2016, de Pontbriand served as president of the Savennières appellation, and in 2017 she cofounded the Academie du Chenin.
Asked what most frustrated her in the world of wine for the upcoming 2025 Master Winemakers guide, de Pontbriand said: "People who are pretentious and make bad wines. The fashion around natural wines that smell like horses and taste like mice frustrates me a lot. That means a whole generation will think forever that this is 'good taste'. Fine wines are something completely different, the result of centuries of civilisation; they are the opposite of wild, even if they can be made very naturally."
Domaine du Closel Savennières Clos du Papillon 2022
- Producer: Domaine du Closel
- Region: Loire Valley
- Country: France
- Grape variety: 100% Chenin Blanc
- ABV: 15.5%
- Vintage: 2022
- Closure: Cork
- Approx. retail price: £69.00
- Medal: Master – Chenin Blanc Masters 2024
