[Edito] [History] [Terroir and Vineyards] [Underground cellars]    Before the existence of any form of life be it crawling, swaying or walking , stone is always present, it is referred to by the Philosophers as the pure presence of the World. Blind and completely void of consciousness, basic in its vitality and energy, stone is an intrinsic part of the grammar and the syntax on which a style is based, what in other terms is known as 'Terroir' Michel Onfray ('Les formes du temps' (The shape of life)). The 'terroirs' of Domaine la Moussière are a true gift of past generations. Located at the very heart of the appellation on Kimmeridgian soil, this magnificent limestone gives way to the marls of Saint Doulchard and the chalky soil of Buzançais. When cenomanian they are flinty-clay and when oxfordian they are layered chalk. It would indeed be a shame for these differences not be expressed. The bed must be delicately ploughed over in order to allow the invisible forms of life that are now oxygenated, to develop right down to the rock, and thus to be able to accommodate and nourish the roots of the vine. This marvellous alchemy now makes it possible for the minerals liberated from the soil to be soaked up by the fruit which can then best be expressed by that much used word 'Terroir'. This is the only way in which each wine will develop different mineral characteristics, thus constituting a "memory catalogue" of the soil and climatic conditions. This makes tasting so much more enriching and the wines itself become real works of art. [Print] [Edito] [History] [Terroir and Vineyards] [Underground cellars]