PHILIPPE TESSIER
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CHEVERNY, Loire
What with all the radical natural wine exploding from every nook and cranny it can be easy to forget about a humble Loire winery like this. Vigneron Philippe Tessier’s quietly profound creations are the answer to every natural wine critic’s claim that natural means unprofessional, unpolished, imperfect, flawed. Year after year, despite a decade of harsh weather and brutally lean harvests, Tessier has executed a level of quality and consistency that marks him as a master of his craft. Tessier’s wines do not inspire slavish fandom; they’re much too modest and precise. Unconcerned with impressing anyone, these wines are far more interested in documenting the quiet glories of the life pastoral. In short, a minimalist’s elevation of terroir!
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PRODUCTS
CHEVERNY BLANC​
A traditional cofermentation of Sauvignon Blanc (90%) with about 5% each Chardonnay and Menu Pineau (Orbois) from young vines less than 20 years of age. Fermented and aged in steel tanks and bottled in Spring following the harvest.
COUR-CHEVERNY
The - ‘basic’ Romorantin cuvee from the micro appellation of Cour-Cheverny vinified and aged in steel.
CHEVERNY ROUGE
45% Gamay and 45% Pinot Noir rounded out with a little smidge of 10% Cot (Loire Malbec) each vinified in a semi-carbonic style to bring out that bright thirst quenching juiciness. ​
CHEVERNY ROSÉ
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In the true spirit of Cheverny, the pink wine is an even split of Gamay and Pinot pressed directly to steel for fermentation and aging.
LA CHARBONNERIE​
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A blend of their oldest vines of Sauvignon Blanc and Chardonnay fermented and aged for a year in a mix of steel and concrete tanks.​
LA PORTE DORÉE​
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This is the more efete Romorantin, the only site specific wine the domaine makes from their oldest vines fermented very slowly and then aged in demi-muid for more than a year.
LE POINT DU JOUR
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80% Pinot Noir and 20% Gamay feremented with 80% whole clusters and aged in a mix of barrique and tronconic barrels.
PHIL'EN BULLE​
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80% Romorantin and 20% Orbois directly pressed and bottled early without filtration or sulfite in the ancestral method of sparkling wine production (pet nat). Lees aged in bottle for a year before hand disgorgement.
NOTA BENE​
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One of a few wines made only in particular vintages. 100% Gamay from 50 year old vines fermented in steel and aged 10 months in barriques.
POINT NOMMÉ​
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One of a few wines made only in particular vintages. 100% Pinot Noir fermented in steel and aged 10 months in barriques.
CHEMIN NOIR​
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While the Domaine is geared primarily around heritage, Philippe is not without curiosity and so a few years back he planted some Pineau d’Aunis. Last year he released a rose that was the first vinification from these vines, this wine marks the second harvest. Despite the more inclusive nature of the Cheverny appellation, there is no place for Pineau d’Aunis and so Philippe has named the wine ‘Chemin Noir’ or ‘Black Path’ as an allusion to the grape’s less common name, Chenin Noir. The parcel is teeny and so there isn’t all that much wine to go ‘round.