Domaine Belargus, the biodynamic estate established from the vineyards of Jo Pithon in the Anjou Noir zone of the Loire Valley, produces a range of Chenin Blanc wines from a carefully mapped portfolio of individual terroir sites across the schist-dominated hillsides near Angers. The Ronceray is one of Belargus’s single-parcel Anjou Blanc expressions, produced from a specific parcel on the distinctive black schist soils of the Anjou Noir zone that Ivan Massonnat has identified for its particular mineral precision and depth of character. The wine is produced as a still dry Chenin Blanc, unclassified as a Grand Cru or Premier Cru, but vinified with the same meticulous attention to site expression and the same avoidance of oak and corrective additions that governs every wine in the Belargus range.

The Anjou Noir’s schist soils, formed from ancient metamorphic rock of the Massif Armoricain, provide a terroir of unusual complexity and mineral richness for Chenin Blanc: the dark, iron-rich substrate absorbs heat during the day and releases it slowly at night, providing a natural thermal regulation that preserves natural acidity while ensuring full phenolic ripeness. At Ronceray, the specific parcel’s aspect and soil depth produce a Chenin of exceptional mineral tension and aromatic focus. The 2022 Loire Valley vintage was warm and produced wines of excellent concentration and ripe fruit generosity alongside the natural acidity that the schist soils and the Chenin variety reliably provide in well-sited Anjou vineyards.

Belargus’s single-parcel Anjou Blanc expressions are a recent but important development in the fine wine mapping of the Loire’s schist zone, providing collectors and enthusiasts with wines that document specific parcels and terroir within the broader Anjou appellation with the same precision that the finest Burgundy domaines apply to individual lieux-dits. The Ronceray is now established as one of the estate’s most consistent and distinctive expressions, and the 2022 vintage’s combination of concentration and freshness makes this a particularly compelling example of what biodynamic farming and minimal-intervention winemaking can achieve from an exceptional Anjou Noir terroir.

Pale gold with a focused nose of white peach, lemon oil, slate mineral, dried herbs and a cool, precise freshness from the Anjou Noir schist soils. Medium to full-bodied on the palate with excellent natural acidity, good concentration from the 2022 vintage and a long, saline, mineral finish of genuine Loire Chenin character. Best from 2025 through 2035.