Clement & Florian Berthier
France, Loire, Coteaux du Giennois
Sustainable
In 1983, our father moved to our mother’s village, Sainte-Gemme-en-Sancerrois, where together they built Domaine Berthier from scratch. The domaine has continued to grow for nearly 30 years. In 1998, he took over the Coteaux du Giennois vineyards that our grandfather had worked for many years as he was one of the first vignerons who championed to create this appellation! He was also the president of the Confrerie for many years. Why we trust so much in the Giennois is very simple! This appellation is the tiniest of the Central Loire, like a pearl, with terrific potential to make great wine from its amazing terroir of Silex for the most part, limestone and clay (terre blanche). In 2012, we started working with friends in the Pouilly Fumé appellation, to create a unique terroir wine from only Kimmeridgien soil. In 2015 we took over a new vineyard in the north of the appellation Giennois, very old vines (between 35 to 100+ years old) only on Silex soil. All the old vines and red grapes are hand-harvested, with a combination of hand-harvesting and machine harvesting for the rest of the production. All vines are south or southeast facing. We consider our farming practices to be very clean; no herbicides, no pesticides, no anti-botrytis and in some areas we are practicing organic. Florian (the younger son), honed his talents as a vigneron in French vineyards in Burgundy and abroad (New Zealand and Oregon). He now manages the vineyards. In 2012, Clément (the oldest son) joined the business having spent 2 years in Canada and the USA as assistant winemaker in the Willamette Valley, OR (Soléna Estate). He is now handling the winemaking and marketing of our wines. For the white wines we press the grapes slowly, directly into the tank, cold soak for couple days, racking, after that native yeast start. Mostly indigenous yeasts are only used and sometimes a neutral Champagne yeast (bayanus) is used for fermentation. After alcoholic fermentation, another racking and that is it. We don't touch it before the blending! For the red wines, which are all hand-harvested and generously sorted, they start with a cold soak for 5-10 days. Only native yeasts are used, only pump over during fermentation and racking after alcoholic fermentation. Malolactic starts mainly in spring, racking after that and the wine is ready. We are very careful through all these steps as we make a low sulfur wine and must keep the wine under natural CO2 to protect it just before bottling. Today we work nearly 25 hectares with great care and dedication to producing outstanding quality wines.
Technical Information
| Wine | Varietals | Vine Age | Farming Type | Soil Type |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Coteaux du Giennois Pinot Noir Rosé | Pinot Noir | 30-35 years | Sustainable | Flint and limestone hills |
| Sancerre Rosé | Pinot Noir | 35 years | Sustainable | Clay-limestone soil |
| Coteaux du Giennois Blanc | Sauvignon Blanc | 30 years | Sustainable | 50% Flint, 30% limestone, 20% clay |
| Coteaux de Giennois Terre de Silex | Sauvignon Blanc | 20 years | Practicing Organic | Flint (Silex) |
| Coteaux de Giennois Terre de Caillottes | Sauvignon Blanc | 30 years | Practicing Organic | Limestone |
| Pouilly Fumé | Sauvignon Blanc | 35 years | Sustainable | 35 years |
| Sancerre Vielles Vignes Sur Silex | Sauvignon Blanc | 40 years | Sustainable | Flint (Silex) |
| Menetou Salon | Sauvignon Blanc | 30 years | Sustainable | 100% Clay | Coteaux du Giennois Rouge | 85% Pinot Noir, 15% Gamay | 30-35 years | Sustainable | Clay-limestone |
| Coteaux du Giennois L'Inedit Rouge | Pinot Noir | 30-35 years | Practicing Organic | Limestone |
| Sancerre "La Croix Renaud" Rouge | Pinot Noir | 40 years | SPracticing Organic | Clay-limestone |
Between Gien and Cosne-sur-Loire, Berthier's Giennois vines are planted on the soils of Pougny and Saint Père, small villages located in the heart of the Centre-Loire along the Loire river that provide a deep and typical Pinot noir "terroir". Traditional vinification with low temperature fermentation and maturation on fine lees in tank. Less than .5g/L residual sugar.