The 2023 Les Bruyères vintage draws on limestone millarge soil and meticulous winemaking to reveal the potential of local cabernet franc.
An isolated plot for a wine of place
For the year-end celebrations, Teyras de Grandval unveils Les Bruyères 2023, a cuvée that tells the story of a site and an exposure. On the south- and south-east-facing slopes of Cravant-les-Côteaux, the Bruyères canton occupies a distinct place: limestone millarge soil gives cabernet franc the extra richness and finesse sought by the estate.
This plot-based approach — isolating a precise section of vineyard to reveal its singular expression rather than blending several plots into a generic cuvée — forms part of an increasingly widespread practice among Loire estates seeking to demonstrate the diversity of their terroirs rather than smooth it into one estate wine.
Meticulous winemaking
Les Bruyères 2023 is made from a hand harvest sorted four times, a month-long maceration including around ten days before fermentation, and twelve months of barrel ageing. It is meticulous work guided by the estate’s commitment to plots. This level of sorting and relatively lengthy ageing for a Loire cabernet franc reflect an assumed ambition for quality, running counter to part of the region’s production still oriented toward simpler wines for quick consumption.
According to the estate, the result is a fruity, generous wine with very fine tannins, accurately expressing the Cravant-les-Côteaux terroir between generosity and elegance.
Cravant-les-Côteaux, a still discreet appellation
Cravant-les-Côteaux, a wine-growing commune in the Chinon appellation, remains less familiar to the wider public than some neighbouring Loire appellations, despite terroir quality recognised by industry professionals for its varied clay, limestone and gravel soils. Highlighting a specific canton such as Les Bruyères contributes to explaining this diversity of terroirs at a time when a growing share of wine lovers are more interested in the plot than the appellation alone.
This type of plot-based cuvée, generally produced in limited quantities, is aimed above all at wine merchants and enthusiasts already familiar with Loire wines rather than wide distribution.
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