Coulée de Serrant

Styles

Principal grape varieties

Terroir

• The vineyard occupies the slopes of a valley (talweg) oriented south/south-east, to the north of which extends a cooler plateau exposed to the winds, given over to livestock farming and cereal cultivation.
• The soils derive principally from schistose and schisto-arenaceous formations of the Upper Ordovician to Lower Devonian, with localised volcanic dykes having produced rhyolites.
• The parent rock is most often very close to the surface, and the soils are generally shallow, low in fertility, and very stony, with significant drainage capacity and low water-holding reserves.
• The oceanic climate is tempered by a foehn effect generated by the Mauges massifs to the west, with mean annual rainfall reaching 600 millimetres compared with over 800 millimetres on the Mauges hills.
• The Loire acts as a thermal regulator by maintaining elevated night-time temperatures on the nearby slopes and, at harvest time, encourages the formation of morning mists that are essential for the development of Botrytis cinerea.

• The vineyard of Coulée de Serrant was planted in 1130 by Cistercian monks and has been marketed under this name since that date.
• The Chenin grape is harvested at an advanced and overripe stage of maturity, as Count Odart noted as early as 1845 when he described a harvest pushed back to around All Saints' Day.

• The wines are white and most often dry, with a pale straw to golden-yellow colour and a nose of intense and complex aromas evoking quince, apricot, peach, or dried fruits intertwined with spiced or smoky notes.
• On the palate, great concentration and rich fruit aromatics are balanced by a fattiness, while the finish, of exceptional length, is marked by minerality and freshness.

• The steep topography, ideal aspect, very thin soils over a schist bedrock, and the proximity of the Loire make it possible to obtain a modest yield of perfectly ripe fruit.

Facts drawn from the specification's terroir-link section by automatic interpretation — see the source.

All appellations in France

Sources

• Product specification (BO Agri, PDF) — approved 23 novembre 2011, JORF 24 novembre 2011
• Official trade body site — InterLoire