Nicolas Bertin & Geneviève Delatte, winemakers

"Chenin winemakers in Rablay-sur-Layon since 2008. "Nicolas Bertin and Geneviève Delatte display their identity without frills, with the self-assured simplicity of those who know how to do the right thing in the right place at the right time. He, a native of Anjou, had a head start in getting to know this welcoming region. She, from the Charentes region, had come from further afield, and yet she speaks of it today as if there had never been any other choice: " We quickly had the desire to create our own estate, and it was bound to be here, in Rablay-sur-Layon! "

After completing a BTS in viticulture and oenology in Blanquefort, near Bordeaux, followed by an internship with Médoc winemaker Marie-Laure Lurton, Nicolas Bertin and Geneviève Delatte set their sights on their first 1.5-hectare vineyard in 2008, in the village they would never leave. some twenty kilometers south of Angers, in the coteaux-du-layon appellation area, the village has fewer than a thousand inhabitants. geneviève Delatte continues:" It's mainly because of them that we wanted to settle here. They bring a dynamism that I've rarely seen elsewhere. The community grocery store, run by volunteers, has been up and running since we arrived. "

at Rablay-sur-Layon, the ethic of life also extends to the vineyards. All 18 winegrowers are certified organic. Domaine Bertin-Delatte is expanding without going overboard, acquiring a very old plot dating back to 1929, and reaching maturity in 2018 with a total of 4.5 hectares of chenin, its signature grape variety. " We still make wines we like to drink: frank, dry, taut. But we've built a fine cellar to enable us to age our wines for longer periods, up to two years, including one year in barrels," emphasize the winemakers.

The forty-somethings have mellowed out, but certainly not fallen asleep, planting pineau d'Aunis to produce thirst-quenching reds, and grolleau gris to produce a new natural sparkling wine. They have also carried out a massal selection of the micro-parcel (0.5 hectare) from 1929, to extract the exceptional plant heritage. at the time we bought it, it was going to be uprooted," says Geneviève Delatte. We saved it and, even though it's still productive, we now want to propagate it on another plot."The 100% chenin "Vingt-Neuf" cuvée will thus remain at the pinnacle of an ultimately eclectic range. In keeping with our philosophy, volumes are never large, and almost all references are sold to professionals, wine merchants and restaurateurs.