The Domaine de la Cotelleraie is a winery in the Loire Valley. It belonged to the Vallée family for several generations. The passion for the vine and wine… …I fell into it when I was little, as they say. My father Claude Vallée, who started working at the age of 14, passed on to me the virus of a job well done as well as a know-how that I will try to pass on to my children if they wish. Whereas in 1957 (when my father started out), the estate had 12 hectares of vines as well as crops of asparagus and fruit trees, it is represented today by 27 hectares of vines. Since my takeover in 1997, I have therefore represented the first generation dedicated solely to wine. A more environmentally friendly approach Aware of having inherited an estate whose cabernet franc vines are planted on the best terroirs of Saint Nicolas de Bourgueil, I decided in 1999 to set up a philosophy of organic cultivation with respect for the plant, the soils and the environment seemed to me to be a work requirement. To make quality wines, it is not enough to have technical knowledge, you also have to have sensitivity, know how to listen to the plant, let it take back its natural rights and benefit from a balanced ecosystem with real microbial life in the grounds. Wine is a living material that is made above all around the vine stock throughout the year. This is why my team and I have set up a rigorous work schedule of ploughing, stripping, hoeing and treatment with sulfur or copper from the spring to avoid the use of chemical weedkillers. , fertilizers and other pesticides. Carrying out such work can only be envisaged with a close-knit team aware of the merits of such an approach. Organic, more than a certainty Finally, it seemed obvious to us to concretize this hard work of a whole year by the resumption of the manual harvest then in 2009 by the request for labeling with Ecocert.
https://www.domaine-cotelleraie.fr/
