Cremant de Loire, Clos des Quarterons, sparkling wine

The CLOS DES QUARTERONS estate is run by Agnès and Xavier AMIRAULT, the 6^th generation of winegrowers. A family estate covering some 34 hectares, it is certified Organic Farming (Ecocert), and Biodynamic Farming (Demeter).

It is sheltered to the north by a fine thick forest that protects it from cold winds. The area is mostly on a wide terrace of old silt deposits, with a deep soil made up of sands and gravels. Above the terraces, a third of the vineyard stretches across a limestone (Turonian chalk) hillside covered with sand.

Located on a gentle slope with southern exposure, the estate enjoys maximum hours of sunshine. It is also lucky enough to be made up of several plots across the St Nicolas de Bourgueil appellation, and so comprise a number of very different soil types (sand, alluvium, limestone, gravel and clay).

A large proportion of the vineyard opens out onto the Loire, which is exceptionally wide at this point as it joins the Vienne, and so allows the influence of the Atlantic to penetrate deep inland. The climate is therefore marginally more oceanic that in Bourgueil, but with the same forest covered hillside protecting the well-exposed slopes from the North wind.

The estate has its own microclimate, which can be warm due to its exposure, is sometimes dry, when the east winds blow, and sometimes wetter and milder due to the oceanic climate and the nearby Loire.

The character of a particular vintage is formed depending on how much influence each of the microclimate’s various components bring to bear.