Domaine Ogereau
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The family estate was founded in the late 1890s, when Emmanuel’s great-great father, a miller and farmer, planted vines after phylloxera to diversify production. Initially, the grapes were sold in bulk to private clientele. It was Emmanuel’s father, Vincent, who began estate bottling. Nearly 90 years after the inception of the vine at Ogerau, Emmanuel was born. He spent his formative years in the cellar and loved everything about his time. After high school, he studied winemaking and viticulture in Angers, and returned home to take over his family estate.
Emmanuel’s main contribution to the family legacy was its dry Chenins, which he now harvests before the onset of botrytis at the peak of their freshness. “Not one affected berry” is one of Emmanuel’s viticultural tenets. The domaine produces four Chenins: Anjou Blanc En Chenin, Savennieres le Grand Beaupreau, Savennieres Enthousiasme, and Anjou Vent de Spilite. Emmanuel ferments the wines with partial malolactic conversion, settling on 30% malo as the sweet spot. The partial malolactic, the second of Ogerau’s tenets, allows for some softening of Chenins that can be “too strict” on the schist soils of Anjou.
The excellence of Ogerau Chenins is also a product of a meticulous selection of juice, as the grapes are pressed without crushing, and only the “heart” (taille) of the blend is retained.
As for the reds, Emmanuel vitifies three varieties: Cabernet Franc, Grolleau Noir, and Cabernet Sauvignon for three wines: Anjouee (Cabernet Franc and Grolleau), Les Taille (Cabernet Franc), and Cote de la Houssaye (Cabernet Sauvignon). Each wine receives twenty-five days of maceration, infusion-style, with no punch downs. Anjouée is aged in buried cement tanks lined with sandstone tiles; les Tailles is half in similar tanks, half in 500-liter barrels; la Houssaye is aged only in 500-liter barrels. The percentage of new oak is around 10-15%. Emmanuel is also experimenting with sans-soufre ferments.
