In Montreuil-Bellay, the soils shift.
The tuffeau limestone that defines Saumur gives way to an older, harder, more compact formation — Jurassic limestone, formed nearly 70 million years before the calcareous soils found across the rest of the appellation.
At Clos Durandière, topsoil is scarce. The vines root directly into the bedrock.
The Bodet family has been growing vines here since the late 19th century.
Étienne represents the fifth generation.
Trained as an oenologist, he refined his craft with Clos Rougeard, Domaine Guiberteau, in Burgundy alongside Sylvain Pataille, and in Champagne at Pierre Gerbais.
In 2017, together with his wife, he founded Bodet-Herold, a project dedicated to sparkling wines.
Then in 2020, he returned to Montreuil-Bellay to establish his own estate.
Clos Durandière: 1.30 hectares just a few meters from the family home.
Nine rows of Cabernet Franc planted in 1983 — a vineyard Étienne has known since childhood.
In the vineyard, the work is meticulous, with multiple passes throughout the season: bud pruning, canopy management, crop thinning — all aimed at achieving healthy, well-ventilated fruit and precise ripeness.
The wines are built slowly: Aging lasts a minimum of 24 months in barrels sourced from Clos Rougeard and Burgundy.
The cellar is troglodyte — underground, yet open. Temperatures are not strictly controlled. Étienne believes the wines should experience the seasons, evolving within a living environment.
