Cyril and Fabien Boisard did not inherit a winemaking tradition. They fell into it as teenagers when their parents bought a house with a small vineyard, and that accidental passion grew into one of the most respected natural-wine addresses in Saint-Nicolas-de-Bourgueil.
Backstory
The Boisards' parents acquired the property with its vines in 1989. The brothers founded Domaine du Mortier in 1996, naming it after the hamlet where the cellar and vineyards sit, just west of the town of Bourgueil. The estate now produces roughly 75,000 bottles a year.
The Region
The domaine works around 16 hectares in the western Loire Valley, with holdings of about 8 hectares in Saint-Nicolas-de-Bourgueil and 2 hectares in Bourgueil, plus 6 hectares devoted to an experimental agroforestry project. The soils are gravel, sand, clay and flint over the local chalk known as tuffeau.
Vineyards and Farming
The brothers applied organic principles from the start, achieving certification in 1999, and adopted biodynamics in 2007. Harvest is by hand into small crates.
Winemaking
Fermentations are spontaneous with native yeasts, with no added yeast, enzymes or tannins. The wines ferment and age in stainless steel, concrete and oak vats, with elevage running from 6 to 24 months depending on the cuvee, and only minimal sulfur, mostly at bottling.
The Wines
The principal grapes are Cabernet Franc, Grolleau, Chenin and Sauvignon Blanc. Cuvees include the parcel reds Les Sables, Les Graviers and Les Pins, the Dionysos bottling, and the playful Brain de Folie range from the experimental vines.
