Clos Kixhaya
WinemakerS
Beatriz Papamija and Étienne Le Blanc
TYPE OF AGRICULTURE
Organic with biodynamic principles.
VINEYARD AREA
4 ha
Country, Region, Subregion
Beatriz, born in Colombia and Étienne, born near Calais; met whilst living in Spain, and have taken quite the long-route round to their new home and life as winemakers in Chinon.
With stops living in Paris, London, Birmingham and Colombia over the last 10 years, the pair formulated the long-term plan of settling somewhere to become winemakers. The pair quickly fell in love with the Loire, though it took them a three-year hunt to find just what they were after there.
After nearly giving up the search in late 2019 Étienne found- on Gumtree of all places- 4 hectares of old vines in Chinon, with a house and cellar beside them. The jackpot!
Planted exclusively with Cabernet Franc on sandy gravel over clay and limestone beside the river, their vines are between 30-90 years old.
Beatriz and Étienne are now in their third year of organic conversion, but are working above and beyond the minimum requirements for organic and even biodynamic certification. Biodiversity is the priority here, promoting life as much as possible, and disturbing as little as necessary.
Alongside their practices with herbal teas for the vines brewed from the plants sewn alongside, the pair recently helped found a local co-op for biodynamically-minded vignerons in Chinon and Touraine. The 'Bouses Tourangelles' share the labour (and manure) in preparing the biodynamic preparations for their vines.
They compare their work in the cellar to slow-cooking: "we let the fermentations go at their own pace, we don't like to do too much extraction" and Beatriz admits her work in the vines before harvest is still very much a "finger in the air feeling" as to which grapes will go to each cuvee, trusting her intuition and taste, instead of analysis. And it's working.
With their first vintage in 2020 a success, we feel honoured to be joining Beatriz and Étienne at the start of their journey. They are principled in their approach, hugely enthusiastic, and producing exciting, pure, zero-sulphur expressions of Cabernet Franc.
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Wines
More on Clos Kixhaya
The debut pet nat from Beatriz and Etienne, aged on the lees, disgorged by hand.