Collection: Stephane Bernaudeau

A child of the region and an experienced cyclist, Stéphane Bernaudeau is a very discreet, calm and determined winemaker who spent more than ten years alongside Mark Angeli before gradually creating his domain in 2000. He now tends 2.5 hectares of old vines. His historical plots are located near Cornu (part of the commune of Martigné-Briand where the Anjou Noir meets the Anjou Blanc): Les Nourrissons, 30 long rows of legendary centenary vines;  Les Terres Blanches, 45 acres of vines over 80 years-old upstream Layon on white clay; and since 2014 Les Onglés, a 2.5 ha frosty plot on schist looking at the Nourrissons on the other side of the Layon. In 2019 to remedy the problem of recurring frost, Stéphane decided to take over two plots of almost 1 ha of old vines in Bonnezeaux and to rent 1 ha of Les Onglés to a young winemaker. This way he could diminish the risk of losing his crops, while keeping the same amount of vines to tend without changing his approach. In the vineyard, Stéphane originally applied strict biodynamic but today is farming with his own, more practical philosophy.

Harvests are manual,  whole bunches are pressed in a vertical press, the juices spontaneously ferment  either in 228 liter barrels of several wines or in Vicard foudres (15 hl) in two small rooms adjoining his house. The malos usually happen but are not forced. The wines are aged for one year on fine lees without racking nor batonnage nor analysis. 20 ppm of SO2 are added after malo and 20 ppm before bottling. Bottling, manual until 2015 is now done by Christian Braud between October and December. On the labels, you will find the vintage at the bottom right, as well as the yields, which have unfortunately been minuscule in recent years due to frost. From 2000 to 2004, he willingly chose botrytised grapes to make his dry wines. Today there is no botrytis in any cuvée, as he thinks botrytis brings too much honeyed, heavy aromatics and structure (even though he recently enjoyed a 2001 Nourrissons). Over the years Stéphane has rightly established himself as an inescapable reference of the region with his different plot vintages with strong identities.