Domaine de La Taille Aux Loups | Domaine de la Butte

The late Jacky Blot headed both Domaine de La Taille Aux Loups and Domaine de la Butte in the Loire Valley, France.

The former he founded in Montlouis in 1988, just across the river from Vouvray, whereas the latter he purchased in 2002 in the appellation of Bourgueil.

With his white wines, Jacky pioneered a dry, terroir-driven style resulting in some of the most structured, complex, and long-lived examples of Chenin Blanc that one is ever likely to come across, a philosophy that extended to his reds too, producing pure and lifted renditions of Cabernet Franc.

It is rare to find a vigneron with as much a flair in making white wine as red, but not only did Jacky exhibit this, but he did so with such gusto that it served to elevate the status of both the Montlouis and Bourgueil appellations to new heights in the mindset of the global wine intelligentsia.

With the passing of Jacky in 2023, his son Jean-Phillippe ably carries on his legacy today

In the vineyard

Domaine de la Taille Aux Loups covers 45 hectares of vineyards planted exclusively to Chenin Blanc.

Hauts de Husseau: “One of Montlouis' highest vineyards at 200 m (660 ft), is a single plot of 70- to 90-year-old vines. Blot chose it for its interesting geology, apparently: very thin flinty soils on a limestone base. Initially this was sold as Rémus Plus, but the name was changed to Hauts de Husseau with the 2015 vintage. This seemed to me to produce perhaps the single most exciting range.” - Jancis Robinson.

Clos de Mosny: 'With 12 ha (30 acres) of 40- to 50-year-old vines, facing south on a gentle slope, this is the largest walled vineyard in the Loire Valley, which Blot acquired in 2011. (He was previously a courtier so presumably knew where all the Loire wine bodies were buried…). He uses only half of the grapes in the single-vineyard wine labelled Clos de Mosny; the rest presumably find their way into Rémus. The soils are sandy-clay and flint (silex), with limestone underneath.”- Jancis Robinson MW.

Clos Michet: “…another walled vineyard, next to Clos de Mosny. It's Blot's highest vineyard, south facing, on limestone with lightly sandy soils above the limestone. Vines are 40 to 60 years old.”- Jancis Robinson MW.

Bretonnière: A single vineyard within Vouvray, however from 2014 onwards the wine was designated Vin de France. The vineyard faces south-east and is characterised by its clay soils.

Domaine de la Butte covers 14 hectares in Bourgueil planted exclusively to Cabernet Franc.

Le Pied de la Butte: These Cabernet Franc vines at the foot of the south-facing slope are at least 30 years old, on clay and limestone.

Le Haut de la Butte: These Cabernet Franc vines at the top of the south-facing slope are at least 35 years old, on clay and silex over limestone.

Mi Pente: Vines here, from the middle part of this south-facing slope, are more than 70 years old and topsoil is particularly thin with limestone very near the surface. This is regarded as a grand cru of the appellation.

Jacky established a viticultural philosophy that saw the domaines working closely with nature; fertilisation is now an extinct practice, chemical treatments are practically non-existent and pruning is radically short, keeping yields down to an average 25 hectolitres per hectare.

At harvest time picking is by hand, successive tris are undertaken, and a severe grape selection is carried out.

In the cellar

Domaine de la Taille Aux Loups: After a severe selection, the musts are vinified in Bordeaux barriques, both new and old (depending on the particular cuvée) in cool rock-hewn cellars.

In Taille aux Loups, Jacky has created a domaine that clearly demonstrates the potential Chenin has for producing some of the world’s greatest, and longest-lived white wines.

Domaine de la Butte: Each section of the slope (the Butte) is vinified separately. The organic certified fruit is hand-picked and foot crushed. After fermentation, the wines are matured in oak.