Terres d’Imaginaire is a new winery, started by Mathilde Magne in 2022 with 2.7 hectare of Chenin Blanc in Anjou. She became an agricultural engineer in 2017. While she was still in school she had an internship with Jean Spizzo, winegrower of Collet de Bovis in Nice. She learned many aspects of organic agriculture as it pertains to wine, and this experience was the lightbulb moment where she decided that she wanted to become a winegrower. From 2013, she shifted all her classes and internships towards viticulture and wine. She had many rich and diverse learning opportunities along the way, notably with Chateau Lilian Ladouys in Sainte Estephe, Institut Jules Guyot (the Viti University in Dijon), and with Stefano Amerighi in Cortona Tuscany.
Once she had her diplomas in hand, she had many ideas about what she wanted, but didn’t quite feel ready to launch her own winery. She knocked on the door of Sylvain Pataille, where she landed her first job that lasted just over three years. Her years with Pataille were indispensable: she found a mentor, a fantastic team, and an inspiring approach to vine growing and aging.

She was initially drawn to Burgundy by her love of Pinot Noir, but the universe of Pataille’s Aligotés were illuminating. That experience made Mathilde decide that she wanted to work with terroir driven white wines, working particularly with selections massale vines from sites with mineral drive. There was one wine, Moque Souris from Bruno Rochard that turned her attention to the Loire Valley and Chenin Blanc. In 2021, she and her husband, Nicolas, searched from Vouvray to Vendée and finally it was Anjou Noir that seduced them with its relaxed lifestyle, luminosity, and gorgeous landscapes.

In 2022, Nicolas and Mathilde built Terres d’Imaginaires little by little. They started with 2.7 hectares of Chenin. They soon grew to six hectares total, all in Rochefort-sur-Loire, with diverse grapes and terroirs – Chenin, Pineau d’Aunis, Sauvignon Blanc, Grolleau, and Cabernet Franc. And now they have eight hectares total, which they are restructuring. Their first steps were to convert everything to organic viticulture, work with their own private selection massale nursery on co-planting some sites with Chenin, tearing out parcels of Cabernet Franc that were beyond saving, and grafting Pineau d’Aunis onto 35 ares of young Cabernet Franc. They also refreshed and rewired the training system to be higher in certain parcels, et cetera. And there are still many more projects that await!
Mathilde is driven by viticulture that is sustainable, coherent, and respects nature. She wants to restore the synergy between the vines and their environment. She works to develop the microbial life in the soil through mechanical work, composting pruned vine shoots in the vineyards, and seeding green cover crops. Genetic diversity through massale selection vines and rootstock is also a key aspect.

Her goal is to make terroir driven wines that express the nature of the soil. The work in the vineyards is crucial for getting grapes in which the balance prevails and will need the least intervention in the cellar. Fermentations start with indigenous yeasts and the wines only get sulfur if necessary. The wines are aged from six to 24 months in stainless steel and barrels with full malolactic conversion. Ten to 20 ppm of SO2 are added before bottling.

Terres d’Imaginaires is one of Wasserman’s most recent additions to their portfolio and we are extremely excited to represent them in New York. We have two wines in stock, both Chenin, both limited and sold in six packs. If you love Chenin Blanc, these are a very distinctive style that is rich, complex, mineral driven, salty, and refreshing.