Winery Philippe GILBERT

Philippe Gilbert is a passionate artist who started out as a playwright before taking over the family's Winery in Menetou-Salon to make it a flagship Winery of the appellation. The Menetou-Salon appellation, which is close to Sancerre and the Loire River, extends north of Bourges over approximately 600 hectares.

Terroir and climate of the AOC Menetou-Salon

Characterized by a semi-oceanic climate, the Menetou-Salon AOC is exclusively planted with Pinot Noir for the red and rosé wines, and Sauvignon for the white. The Kimmeridgian subsoil is identified by the alternation of very compact limestone layers and softer clayey marls.

The choice of biodynamics

Philippe Gilbert considers that a living wine can only be obtained by respecting the vine and the soil and by being receptive to cosmic influences. The eight parcels are cultivated in organic and biodynamic agriculture since 2007.

The postulate of biodynamic agriculture is first of all a story of taste: it is by tasting wines worked in this way that his desire came to convert the whole Winery according to the principles of biodynamic agriculture.

In concrete terms, it is a matter of enhancing the soil and the plant by means of preparations from plant, animal or mineral matter, taking into account the rhythms of the stars. Ploughing completes this work: it ensures the necessary oxygenation of the soil and allows the root system, the real backbone of the vine, to plunge into the different layers of the soil.

Expressing the identity of the terroirs

Philippe seeks to express the identity of the terroir by vinifying parcel by parcel for the great vintages as for his cuvée Les Chandelières, resulting from a parcel of one hectare of Sauvignon.

Saline and mineral wines

At the tasting, what is most striking is the saline and mineral imprint in both the reds and the whites. The whites are crystalline and the reds can remind us of some of the great pinot noirs of Burgundy.