Clos Puy Arnaud

Winemaker in Bordeaux for four generations, Thierry Valette initially deviates from the family passion, devoting himself to artistic performances between modern dance and jazz. More than school studies, it is the direct contact with some people to influence the orientation. Among them is Anne Calderoni, who taught him the basics of biodynamic and that will remain critical for further investigation.
He then began to think of agriculture that respects the biotope, passing the biological approach and ultimately leading to the biodynamic, and in 2000 it finally settles in Castillon in the 6 hectares of Clos Puy Arnaud, already mentioned as 1er Cru in the legendary guide Bordeaux et ses Vins Edouard Féret of 1874.
Excluded from the municipal designation Saint Emillion in 1950, this territory has been for years relatively overlooked and undervalued. This allowed Thierry and other resourceful winemakers to buy at very advantageous prices these lands, creating a network of small producers who experiment and comparing to bring forward viticulture and winemaking techniques that respect the environment and the terroir.
The varieties bred to Clos Puy Arnaud are 70% Merlot, 25% Cabernet Franc and 5% Cabernet Sauvignon, with vines of 30 years and some more than 60 years on calcareous clay soil.
After the harvest, strictly by hand, the grapes are carefully selected and pressed gently. After a cold pre-maceration, fermentation triggered by indigenous yeast are held in large oak vats or cement tanks. According to Thierry, this is the best time to carry out the assembly, so that the different grapes can play the same fermentation under the same conditions.
This is followed by aging in steel or concrete, depending on the type of wine and depending on the vintage, until bottling which takes place without addition of sulfur dioxide.
The wines of Clos Puy Arnaud are tense, sharp, powerful for their own energy and not for alcohol or hints of wood.