Vine Revival

Vine Revival is the brainchild of Decanter’s Christelle Guibert. Inspired by a trip to unfashionable Muscadet in 2014, she was struck on the one hand by the number of derelict vineyards there but on the other by the growing list of terroir-driven producers and thought it the perfect place to try and realise a lifelong dream. Wasting no time, she enlisted the help of Vincent Caillé of Domaine Fay d’Homme, one of Muscadet’s finest producers, and acquired a small parcel of 60-year old vines on Gneiss soil in Monnières and a concrete egg-shaped vat. 2014 was the first release of Terre de Gneiss and rave reviews from the likes of Jancis Robinson MW, Victoria Moore and Tim Atkin MW ensured that the limited production of 1899 bottles was quickly snapped up. Hopes are high for the 2015. The philosophy behind the wine is simple, with almost all the hard work taking place in the vineyard. In the winery, nature takes its course albeit under the watchful eye of Vincent. For her part, Christelle is as hands-on as time allows. It helps that her roots are in the region and frequent trips home have ensured that she has been involved in this project every step of the way. The hope is to at least emulate some of the great wines of the region: 12 degrees, bone dry, fresh and pristine with the acidity required for long aging. Judge the results for yourselves with the 2014 (in magnum) and a preview of the 2015 at this year’s Raw. For those of you that can wait, our next project will be showing at Raw New York. It's Muscadet, Jim, but not as we know it!