Saumur Chenin Blanc and Cabernet Franc grown on tuffeau, the limestone the Loire's châteaux are built from, at Le Puy-Notre-Dame.
Domaine de la Renière farms 15 hectares at Le Puy-Notre-Dame, in the Saumur appellation. Sandy-clay loam topsoils sit over Turonian tuffeau, the soft limestone of the Paris Basin that gives eastern Anjou its local name, Anjou blanc. The vines range from 3 to over 70 years old.
Plantings are Chenin Blanc, Cabernet Franc, Chardonnay and Grolleau Gris, certified organic (FR-BIO-10). Wines are made in a converted barn and aged in bottle in troglodyte caves cut into the tuffeau.
The estate dates back to 1631 and belonged to the Gay family. Thibault Masse took it over in 2018 and converted it to organic farming.
Thibault started in wine in Saumur and Perrine Kientz in Alsace; they met at university in Burgundy and studied oenology in Bordeaux. Their placements included estates in Saumur, Saint-Émilion and Sauternes.