Meet Pierre Ménard
After studying wine in the Agronomic school of Angers, Pierre traveled the world to learn about the different processes and made wine in Canada, New Zealand and Hungary.
Only in his late twenties, Pierre started to produce wine in the Layon in 2013, using a 100-year-old Chenin Blanc vineyard planted on schist called “Le Quart des Noëls”. The plot used to belong to his parents who withdrew some of the vines from the cooperative contract. A year later, Pierre added up two new plots: an old Sauvignon Blanc “Clos de La Roche” and a young Chenin Blanc vineyard and made two new cuvées: Laïka, a dry Sauvignon and Cosmos a beautifully balanced Côteaux du Layon. Pierre at the time, also produces a Verjus by picking at véraison the unripe berries in his Clos de la Roche & Quart des Noëls, which helps the remaining grapes to achieve full maturity. Since 2016, Pierre has been producing, 6 dry cuvées, all coming from single site vineyards, mainly Chenin Blanc, but also Cabernet Franc and Sauvingon Blanc. He also makes (when vintage allows) an extra sweet wine called "Chaos".
Grapes are picked by hand and carefully selected for the production of dry whites. The grapes are pressed very slowly using a pneumatic press, and the wine is then transferred and left in the barrel for at least a year. For the sweet coteaux, Pierre picks the vineyard 3-4 times to select the right noble rot fruit.
Pierre plays music, draws his own beautiful labels, and reads a lot. Making wine for him is an intellectual exercise, and he does produce meditative wines. They are a reflection of the time spent by him tending his vines. We invite you to discover his own world, by trying one of his bottles. You won't be disappointed.
