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In the 1990s, the Boisard family purchased a plot of land with a traditional vigneron’s house and half a hectare of grapes. Brothers Cyril and Fabien were only teenagers at the time, but the former grower taught the boys how to care for the vines and vinify the grapes for the family’s personal consumption.

This experience led Cyril to become enamoured with the vineyard work, and eventually he went to study at the wine school of Montreuil-Bellay, near Saumur. During a traineeship with another winemaker, Cyril was offered a parcel of three hectares of vines, which his father bought to help kickstart the 19-year-old’s budding career. Meanwhile, Fabien had been studying a degree in viticulture and joined the fledgling domain in 1998.

These days, the brothers tend to 15 hectares, with new plantings of Menu Pineau, Chenin Blanc, Grolleau, Sauvignon Blanc, and Cabernet Sauvignon joining their original Cabernet Franc parcels.

The domain is set at the northern end of the Saint-Nicolas-de-Bourgueil AOC, between Angers and Tours. It is Certified Organic Biodynamic by Ecocert and Nature et Progrès—one of the oldest bodies overseeing and certifying organic agriculture in France. When they began cultivating in 1996, Domaine du Mortier was the only organic vineyard in the area. Now the appellation boasts 20% of organically farmed vineyards.

The brothers are passionate about developing and preserving soil health, and actively plant alternate crops within the vineyard to encourage biodiversity and the natural flavours found in the wine.

Since 2003, they have been developing an experimental vineyard in the nearby commune of Brain-sur-Allonnes, where they have planted fruit trees (including 30 apple trees), chestnut, ash and acacia, and other plants.

Sand and gravel is typical of Saint-Nicolas-de-Bourgueil, but some parcels are also rooted in limestone-rich clay. Everything is done by hand in the vineyard, including grassing and ploughing between rows, and the occasional addition of biodynamic compost.

Grapes are hand harvested, and sulphur is used sparingly at the point of bottling only. Whole bunches are fermented at low temperatures in concrete tanks in the old cellar beneath the house.