First making wine in an isolated shed with a loose-straw floor (or on occasion, a borrowed beach) Matthieu L'Hotelier's unique approach has been an inspiration since the earliest days of Under The Bonnet.
Joined in the project by his partner, Chloélie Cholot-Louis in 2020, Les Chants Jumeaux has begun to go from strength to strength. It's a turn of events that thrills us to no end.
With their approach to winemaking drawing parallels with the experimental art & music communities they're a strong part of, Chloélie & Matthieu are producing vivid, alternative expressions of the far-eastern zone of the Muscadet region.
In further exciting developments for the project, Chloelie and Matthieu purchased a 17th-century farm in the summer of 2022, with 7 hectares of meadow outside the village of Montrelais. The farm was under vine until the 1950s, and the re-planting project begins this year with 0.7ha of Pineau d'Aunis. The old cowshed has already been converted into a new cellar. We're assured that the musique-concrète machines to serenade the fermentations have been installed.
In Montrelais - equidistant between Ancenis and Angers - Matthieu & Chloelie farm the last 2.5 hectares of vines of the 300ha once planted around the village. Since 2012, Matthieu has been as hands-off and low-input as is possible with viticulture, allowing nature to take its course and working with what is provided.
In the cellar, work is slow and considered. Presses are slow and laboured, a twelve-hour process that Matthieu likens to being at sea: "Chloélie and I take turns through the night, with an alarm to press a little every 30 minutes." Reds are detailed and pronounced, whites are alive with tension: fleshy, textural expressions of the maritime influence.
In 2021 with yields diminished greatly by frost and mildew, Chloélie & Matthieu purchased their first negocé fruit, a little Folle Blanche and Melon B, a process they've continued into 2022, developing a relationship with two organic growers in Muscadet to supplement their output until vines are established on the new farm.
We're thrilled to release the following wines from the 2021 vintage, and cannot wait to see how the project continues to develop:
AVAILABLE NOW
NEW 2021 - FB XXI - Folle Blanche
Fruit purchased from an organic grower in Ancenis, a 12-hour press overnight. Fermented and aged in fibreglass. No additions.
NEW 2021 - TT XXI - Abouriou, Gamay, Grolleau
No maceration, a 12-hour overnight press, fermented and aged in fibreglass. No additions.
NEW 2021 - CH XXI - Chenin
A 12-hour overnight press, fermented and aged in fibreglass. No additions.
2018 - TRAD XVIII (50cl) - Chenin
Late-harvest Chenin with two years of fermentation before bottling in June 2020.
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Portraits of Matthieu by Bryan McComb, March 2023. Chloélie sadly absent on an art project. B&W Label photography by Simon Le Lagadec