Christine de Mianville
Christine de Mianville is a Jasnières specialist who hand-crafts tiny quantities of profound, textured, beautifully refined whites from this northern outpost for Chenin Blanc. She meticulously farms her single hectare of vineyards organically, treating her Chenin grapes as one would precious grand cru fruit from France’s most prestigious sites. Her unique approach to Jasnières demonstrates the nobility of this small appellation, situated on a single hillside—not unlike the Côte de Beaune—on the banks of the Loir River, a northerly tributary to the Loire.
Born in Québec to French parents, Christine moved to France as a young student. Passionate about the natural world from an early age, she pursued a career in forestry, but would soon be derailed by an interest in wine. Enology studies in Montpellier introduced her to the scientific aspect of winemaking, but her true desire was to be working outdoors rather than in a laboratory. She learned viticulture in the field via stints with domaines in the Languedoc and Bordeaux before moving to the Loire Valley in 1991, where she began teaching viticulture and enology near Saumur. Today, she continues to teach, but the aspiration to farm her own vineyards led her to Jasnières, forty-five miles to the northeast.
She began in 2003 with two rented parcels. Six years later, she purchased and restored a ruin which became her own cave, surrounded by land she cleared and replanted to reach a grand total of one hectare of Chenin Blanc. This cépage she calls “magical” for the diverse palette of wines it can produce is perfectly at home in the silex-laden terroir of Jasnières. While fashion has evolved towards off-dry (sec tendre) wines here, Christine opts for the dry style historically produced in Jasnières. Nothing is rushed, and she forgoes enological interventions in favor of long, natural fermentations and patient lees aging in barrel. She does not hesitate to hold her cuvées back for as long as necessary, often releasing them years after the vintage: regarding élevage, “it’s the wine that guides us,” Christine reveals.
Now joined by her son, Camille, at the helm of the domaine, Christine bottles Jasnières with serious depth, length, weight, and cellaring potential. Her wines demonstrate that this small appellation can produce beguiling wines that rank among France’s very finest.
Christine de Mianville is a Jasnières specialist who hand-crafts tiny quantities of profound, textured, beautifully refined whites from this northern outpost for Chenin Blanc. She meticulously farms her single hectare of vineyards organically, treating her Chenin grapes as one would precious grand cru fruit from France’s most prestigious sites. Her unique approach to Jasnières demonstrates the nobility of this small appellation, situated on a single hillside—not unlike the Côte de Beaune—on the banks of the Loir River, a northerly tributary to the Loire.Born in Québec to French parents, Christine moved to France as a young student. Passionate about the natural world from an early age, she pursued a career in forestry, but would soon be derailed by an interest in wine. Enology studies in Montpellier introduced her to the scientific aspect of winemaking, but her true desire was to be working outdoors rather than in a laboratory. She learned viticulture in the field via stints with domaines in the Languedoc and Bordeaux before moving to the Loire Valley in 1991, where she began teaching viticulture and enology near Saumur. Today, she continues to teach, but the aspiration to farm her own vineyards led her to Jasnières, forty-five miles to the northeast.
She began in 2003 with two rented parcels. Six years later, she purchased and restored a ruin which became her own cave, surrounded by land she cleared and replanted to reach a grand total of one hectare of Chenin Blanc. This cépage she calls “magical” for the diverse palette of wines it can produce is perfectly at home in the silex-laden terroir of Jasnières. While fashion has evolved towards off-dry (sec tendre) wines here, Christine opts for the dry style historically produced in Jasnières. Nothing is rushed, and she forgoes enological interventions in favor of long, natural fermentations and patient lees aging in barrel. She does not hesitate to hold her cuvées back for as long as necessary, often releasing them years after the vintage: regarding élevage, “it’s the wine that guides us,” Christine reveals.
Now joined by her son, Camille, at the helm of the domaine, Christine bottles Jasnières with serious depth, length, weight, and cellaring potential. Her wines demonstrate that this small appellation can produce beguiling wines that rank among France’s very finest.
Technical Information
| Wine | Blend | Vine Age | Soil Type | Vineyard Area* |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Jasnières “Dyane” |
Chenin Blanc | 12-35 years old | Clay, limestone, silex | 1 ha total |
| Jasnières “Ad’Elles” |
Chenin Blanc | Planted in 2010 | Clay, limestone, silex | 1 ha total |
| Jasnières “Chant de Vigne” |
Chenin Blanc | 35 years old | Clay, limestone, silex | 1 ha total |
| * "ha" = hectares; one hectare equals roughly two and a half acres | ||||
VITICULTURE / VINIFICATION
• Vineyards farmed by hand and worked with donkey-drawn plough
• Southern and southwestern exposure
• Grapes are harvested by hand into small buckets
• Harvest in multiple passes within each parcel to obtain desired ripeness levels
• Direct pressing after harvest
• After pressing, the juice is fed to stainless steel tanks by gravity for an overnight débourbage (settling of the must)
• The next day, the juice is racked to barrel for fermentation
• Spontaneous fermentations with indigenous yeast
• Wines ferment fully dry and complete malolactic fermentation
• Aged in barrel for a minimum of 18 months with no racking
• Barrels range from 125L to 450L and are replaced occasionally as needed
• Wines are bottled unfined and unfiltered
• Minimal sulfur doses added only at bottling
Jasnières “Dyane”
• A selection from one or more parcels harvested early and bottled young, intended to yield a fruit-forward style that drinks well young
• In 2022, sourced mainly from the parcel Au pas de l’âne with some fruit from Chant de vigne
• Named after the old car model Citroën Dyane, pictured on the label
Jasnières “Ad’Elles”
• A selection of barrels from the parcel Au pas de l’âne, bottled apart in the 2020 vintage to honor the birth of Christine’s granddaughter, Adèle
Jasnières “Chant de Vigne”
• A single-vineyard bottling from the Chant de vigne parcel (mid-slope with southern exposure)
• Southern and southwestern exposure
• Grapes are harvested by hand into small buckets
• Harvest in multiple passes within each parcel to obtain desired ripeness levels
• Direct pressing after harvest
• After pressing, the juice is fed to stainless steel tanks by gravity for an overnight débourbage (settling of the must)
• The next day, the juice is racked to barrel for fermentation
• Spontaneous fermentations with indigenous yeast
• Wines ferment fully dry and complete malolactic fermentation
• Aged in barrel for a minimum of 18 months with no racking
• Barrels range from 125L to 450L and are replaced occasionally as needed
• Wines are bottled unfined and unfiltered
• Minimal sulfur doses added only at bottling
Jasnières “Dyane”
• A selection from one or more parcels harvested early and bottled young, intended to yield a fruit-forward style that drinks well young
• In 2022, sourced mainly from the parcel Au pas de l’âne with some fruit from Chant de vigne
• Named after the old car model Citroën Dyane, pictured on the label
Jasnières “Ad’Elles”
• A selection of barrels from the parcel Au pas de l’âne, bottled apart in the 2020 vintage to honor the birth of Christine’s granddaughter, Adèle
Jasnières “Chant de Vigne”
• A single-vineyard bottling from the Chant de vigne parcel (mid-slope with southern exposure)
General Information
- Country
- France
- Region
- Loire
- Appellation(s)
- Jasnières
- Producer
- Christine de Mianville
- Founded
- 2003
- Annual Production
- 450 cases
- Farming
- Organic (certified)
