Les Terres Blanches

France, Loire

The Story

In 2004 Céline and Benoit Blet created Les Terres Blanches and began their winemaking adventure together in a small, peaceful village at the gates of Anjou in the Loire Valley. The couple met as students in the early 1990s, married, and spent a decade working for other Domains. But like so many winemakers, they longed to make their own wines. Once their children were born, they began searching for a place to put down roots, but found the famous appellations were prohibitively expensive.

They stumbled upon an ideal spot in the Oiron, a less well-known but historically well-regarded area of the Loire. The Domaine was five hectares owned by a pensioner who wanted to pass on his wine heritage to a new generation. Céline and Benoit were fervent supporters of biodynamics and regenerative farming, and this land allowed them to start with a clean slate. “Bernard, the original owner of the Domaine, didn’t have any money for chemicals so it was already organic,” Céline explains.

The couple spent the better part of two years learning and documenting their plots before launching. They are precise winemakers– who prefer precision over experimentation– and share a clear vision, but knew they needed to be patient. “We wanted to start and do best quickly. But If you start a winery in an unknown area, you have to be a success from the beginning, as you have no reputation to carry you.”

Today, Les Terres Blanches is a constellation of plots scattered around the area, most of which are naturally protected by trees, groves, grasslands and bird reserves. It is a peaceful setting where animals and insects abound, and cars are rarely found. The Domaine now totals nearly twelve hectares, with Chenin and a little Chardonnay for whites, Cabernet Franc and Gamay de Bouze for reds and also Gamay Beaujolais for a singular rosé. The farthest parcel is 2 km away, but most are within easy walking distance of one another.

The soils are a mix of overlapping layers of mineral strata, mostly silky-clay and granite with limestone and slate, which create complexity and lead to atypical wines with a distinct identity. “We have chosen to vinify all our wines as single varietals, so you will be able to discover and taste all the subtleties of each grape variety grown on our particular terroir,” Céline explains. They believe the copious flora and fauna surrounding the vines also contribute to the identity of each terroir, so the label for each single-vineyard cuvée features a representation of one animal and one plant found in that vineyard.

All wines are harvested, vinified and bottled at the estate guided by the rhythms of nature and the lunar calendar. Through mindful practices and a commitment to environmental stewardship, they protect the land while integrating tradition and innovation.

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With wines coming from this place no one knows, we had to create our own identity. Our identity was our wine, and still is our wine.

Céline & Benoit Blet

The People

Céline & Benoit Blet

Over the last 20 years, Céline and Benoit planted and pruned and painted and sometimes prayed, ultimately creating not just a winery, but a family, a community and a rich life together. They doubled the size of the Domaine, raised two children and built a global reputation for their tiny corner of the Loire.

The couple lives in a house in a village not far from the Domaine, but happily spend most days and nights and weekends in their little utopia of vineyards. They seem to follow each other around, and they are in turn shadowed by Melba, their Australian Shepherd who is a constant presence in the cellar and between the vines.

Céline and Benoit do as much of the work as they can themselves, adding just one full-time assistant and one saisonnière (seasonal worker). A few more arrive in the spring and stay until July, then a loyal team of around 20 arrive for harvest. They embrace their harvesters as family, making sure they are treated well and nourished– from both plentiful food and positive energy, not stress. This has led to a tight-knit group who return every year. Céline says, “Our harvesters are essential to our success. We need to take the grapes at just the right time, or we cannot do our work”. Each July they hold a dinner for their harvest team to discuss who will return, and another dinner in the winter after vine trimming is done. “We have to celebrate,” she affirms.

Even their children, now grown and on their own, are still part of the Domaine’s success. Their son Maxine, now working for a winery in New Zealand, sends home new insights and techniques. Charlotte, their daughter, who is doing a degree in communication, runs the Domaine’s Instagram account.

Observation is essential to biodynamics. We are in the vines every day to see what has changed, and what can be changed.

Céline & Benoit Blet

The Place

Located south of Angers, in the region of Deux-Sèvres (Poitou-Charentes), Les Terres Blanches is a virtual oasis amidst polyculture fields. Their small plots are intermingled with groves, meadows and bird sanctuaries, often enclosed by walls of trees and far removed from interruptions like traffic or tractors. Their vineyards have an innate sense of calm, where one feels somehow obligated to speak in whispers, so as not to disrupt the harmony with nature.

Celine says the many crops in the area “…allow us the biodiversity we need to make our wines.” On their land, grape vines thrive amongst dozens of old fruit and nut trees, roses and wildflowers which attract additional insects and birds. Three adult sheep and several new lambs roam between the vines, enjoying the grasses and adding their manure to the soils.

Since 2006, Céline and Benoit have replanted using their own grafts (selection massale) to ensure biodiversity and protect vine identity. They have now replanted nearly half of their vineyards, as they replace vines as soon as necessary, which leads to a variety of vine ages represented in the same row. For the Chenin, they make three staggered passes during the month of harvest to capture different maturities.

A sensitivity towards sustainability is woven into their operations– from cultivating community partnerships to conscientiously managing and sharing resources. “We try to use local suppliers as much as possible. We produce our hay and rotate the grazing of our horse and our small herd of sheep between meadows. With the help of farmers, we harvest our beans and seeds to make our green manure.” At the end of the growing season, the leaves of their Gamay de Bouze vines, known for their benefits for blood circulation, are collected by a local homoeopathic partner, who in return gives Celine and Benoit medicinal plants like horsetail or yarrow which they use for herbal teas and biodynamic preparations.

Les Terres Blanches is also a part of a French association (boutabout.org) which allows individuals and catering professionals to easily return empty wine bottles for reuse. All of the Domaine’s still wines are all bottled in Burgundian bottles, which are washed and reused, not recycled. They also use natural corks produced and processed organically.

The highlight of a visit to Terres Blaches is their new tasting room and cellar, built tediously over several years to celebrate the 20th anniversary of the Domaine. The building houses a light-filled tasting gallery, ageing cave, office and rooftop as well as a bathroom so unique it alone is a reason to visit.

Their winemaking cellar is at the rear of the Domaine, nestled in a quiet courtyard next to a historic old church, where the noise of delivery trucks competes with clanging bells and flocks of birds reluctant to give up their nesting spots. Inside there is a long, narrow barrel room with all manner of vessels– fiberglass and steel tanks, oak barrels and even amphora, plus an area to rest wines for a few months after bottling; There is a double gyropallette for making sparkling wines, an underground concrete cuve for macerations and a labelling line. “Everything is made entirely here after the grapes arrive from the vines,” says Céline proudly.

This desire to chaperone every part of their grapes’ journey from bud to bottle is the key to the Domaine’s intense wines with a distinct identity. Delicious wines that offer outstanding value, made with care and love by a couple who believe in nurturing the planet as much as their cuvées.

It’s all these small everyday gestures that bring us balance. We are and will remain on a human-scale of production– so that we can have perfect control of our production.

Céline & Benoit Blet