Domaine du Clos Naudin (Philippe Foreau)

Domaine du Clos Naudin was established in 1923 by Armand Foreau, who personally hand-dug the cellars beneath the estate. Philippe Foreau, the third generation, assumed control in 1983 and built the domaine's international reputation over the following decades. His son Vincent joined in 2015 and took over winemaking in 2016, continuing the family's unbroken commitment to Vouvray and Chenin Blanc. The estate's track record spans nearly a century, with bottles from the 1930s demonstrating the extraordinary aging potential of wines made here.

• Founded 1923; cellars hand-dug by founder Armand Foreau
• Philippe Foreau took over in 1983 and elevated the domaine to world-class status
• Vincent Foreau joined 2015, assumed full control in 2016
• Consistently ranked alongside Domaine Huet as one of Vouvray's two benchmark producers

The estate covers 11.5 hectares in Vouvray AOC, with the principal sites, Les Perruches and Les Ruettes, located in the northeast corner of the appellation. All vineyards occupy a mid-hill position with south, southeast, and southwest exposures, maximizing sun exposure in the Loire's cool continental climate. The soils combine clay, tuffeau limestone, and flint (silex), a combination that drives both the minerality and the longevity that define Clos Naudin wines. Warm, dry summers with cool mornings preserve acidity and allow for the slow, extended ripening that Chenin Blanc requires for complexity.

• Les Perruches and Les Ruettes are the key vineyard sites, northeast Vouvray
• Mid-hill position with 100% south/southeast/southwest exposures
• Soils: clay, tuffeau limestone, and silex (flint)
• Organic viticulture with minimal inputs throughout

Clos Naudin produces Vouvray across every permitted style: dry (sec), off-dry (demi-sec), sweet (moelleux), and sparkling (pétillant and mousseux). Fermentation takes place in ancient 300-liter barrels, and malolactic fermentation is blocked in all wines, preserving the high natural acidity that underpins their aging potential. Chaptalisation has never been practiced at the domaine. The vineyard is hand harvested with multiple passes, allowing selective picking at optimal ripeness for each style. Sparkling wines undergo a minimum of 48 months on lees before release.

• Fermentation in ancient 300-liter barrels; MLF always blocked
• No chaptalisation, ever
• Hand harvested with multiple triage passes for selective ripeness
• Sparkling wines aged minimum 48 months on lees

The Moelleux Reserve is produced only a handful of times per decade, in vintages where botrytis and concentration reach the required threshold. Even rarer is the Goutte d'Or, produced only five times in the entire history of the domaine: 1947, 1990, 2011, 2015, and 2020. These wines represent the pinnacle of what Chenin Blanc can achieve in Vouvray, combining extraordinary richness with the acidity needed for multi-decade cellaring.

• Moelleux Reserve: produced only a handful of times per decade
• Goutte d'Or: made only five times ever, 1947, 1990, 2011, 2015, 2020
• Still wine production approximately 30,000 bottles annually
• Sparkling wine production approximately 25,000 bottles annually