90pts Vinous
The 2023 Le Closier is a succulent style that still manages to achieve a sense of restraint. Just 30% spent nine months in barrel for nine months, followed by nine more months in bottle before release. It is refined, elegant and already drinking well despite its youth. Expect primary fruit flavors of raspberry and rhubarb, a light body and sweet fruit flesh on the mid-palate. Delicate tannins coat the palate and show a sensitive hand. The 2023 is a success from a challenging year. Drinking Window: 2025 - 2032

- By Rebecca Gibb, MW on August 2025

Domaine des Closiers is a meticulously run estate in the village of Parnay, near Saumur. It was purchased by telecom engineer and wine lover Anatole de la Brosse in 2018. De la Brosse spared no expense renovating the property and connecting a series of underground cellars in the chalk cliffs above the Loire. The vines are planted predominantly on clay-chalk, and without marked terroir differences among the parcels, De la Brosse differentiates his range through maturation. Harvesting is done by hand, with several tries before the berries reach the tank. Indigenous yeasts are used for fermentation. Extraction is very gentle—simply wetting the cap every two days and fermenting cool for 10–15 days. No SO₂ is used, but Bioprotect, a non-saccharomyces yeast added to vineyard buckets, protects against Brettanomyces and other bacteria in the winery. The Closiers cuvée is matured for nine months in barrel. The most recent release, 2023, is a success in a challenging vintage. The current-release 2021 Les Coudraies is drinking well now after a year in barrel and two years in bottle. At the top of the range, the 2021 Les Trezellières spent two years in barrels (courtesy of Haut-Brion), though the élevage is sensitively handled, capturing the freshness of the vintage while attaining excellent balance. De la Brosse has also purchased a domaine in Chinon and, based on the first vintages bottled at Closiers, these wines have a very bright future.