Pierre Ménard trained as an agricultural engineer and worked abroad, including spells in New Zealand and Hungary, before returning to his native Anjou. In 2013 he bought his first plot in Faye-d'Anjou, a small parcel of century-old Chenin Blanc vines on schist, and made his first vintage from a garage beneath his parents' house.

The vines stand on schist soils shot through with quartz veins, including the purple schist known locally as spilite and the blue schist called phtanite, on slopes above the Layon river with south to south-east exposure. Pierre Ménard farms without chemical inputs and follows biodynamic principles, harvesting by hand in several passes through the vines to select ripe fruit and keep yields low. In the cellar he ferments with indigenous yeasts and no additives, then ages the wines in barrel, foudre or earthenware jar for about a year before bottling.

At Dynamic Cellars, the range from Domaine Pierre Ménard includes the 2023 vintages of Clos Mailles, Cosmos, La Varenne de Chanze, Laïka, Le Quart Des Noëls, Pluton, Quarts de Gastines and Rougetta. Discover them among our Loire Valley wines, white wines and biodynamic wines.