Benoit and Celine Blet met as students in the early 1990s, spent a decade working other people's estates, and in 2004 settled in Oiron, a small village south of Saumur at the edge of Anjou in the Loire Valley. The name they chose, Les Terres Blanches, describes the pale, mineral-rich soils beneath their feet. They came to biodynamics early, and have never left.
The Region and Terroir
Oiron sits in the Deux-Sevres department, just outside the main Anjou appellation boundary, which means many of their wines are labeled Vin de France or Anjou. The geology is exceptional: a complex layering of schist, limestone, Roussard sandstone, and ferrous soils that shift across the constellation of small parcels making up the estate. Surrounding hedgerows, copses, and meadows shelter the vines and sustain biodiversity; one Gamay de Bouze plot is shared with organic medicinal plant producers after harvest, in exchange for biodynamic preparations.
Farming and Viticulture
The domaine covers 10 hectares, divided among Chenin Blanc, a small Chardonnay plot, Cabernet Franc, and Gamay de Bouze. Since 2006, the Blets have replanted nearly half the estate from their own massale selections, preserving vine genetics adapted to their specific soils rather than relying on nursery clones. Biodynamic preparations follow the lunar calendar. For Chenin, they make three separate passes through the vineyard in October to capture grapes at different stages of maturity and botrytis development.
Winemaking and the Wines
The Blets describe themselves as precise rather than experimental: they document each parcel meticulously and let accumulated knowledge guide decisions. Wines ferment on indigenous yeasts, age in a mix of old barrels and tank, and are bottled in reusable Burgundy bottles through a local circular-economy association. Sulfur use is minimal. The range includes Les 3 Poiriers, Blet Tendre, Les Hautes Bruyeres, and a petillant Ancestral Blanc, all bearing the hallmark of schist-grown Chenin: taut, saline, and built to age.
