Domaine de Bellivière

Since 1995, theBellivière estate has been in the expert hands of Christine and Eric Nicolas, both driven by boundless passion. They were joined in 2015 by their son Clément, and his wife Laure-Anne joined the team in 2020. Bellivière is now one of the jewels of the Jasnières and Coteaux du Loir appellations.The Bellivière estate covers 18 hectares spread across 5 municipalities and more than 60 plots (Lhomme, Ruillé-sur-Loir, Chahaignes, Marçon, and Dissay-sous-Courcillon). This mosaic of terroirs embodies the richness and viticultural diversity of the Sarthe department.

The Bellivière estate’s vineyard is managed using organic farming methods and has been Demeter-certified for biodynamic farming since 2008. The vines are cultivated (through plowing and scraping) without herbicides or chemical fertilizers. The mass-selection plantings are intentionally designed with high planting density—which yields higher quality—to make the best use of the rare and valuable terroirs. AtDomaine de Bellivière, the harvest is carried out entirely by hand, and yields are deliberately kept very low to ensure that only the finest berries, at optimal ripeness, are picked. This pursuit of ripeness—a constant focus for Eric Nicolas—results, depending on the vintage, in wines with varying levels of residual sugar, offering delicious wines ranging from dry to sweet.

Since 2016, a second entity (a wine merchant),Les Arches de Bellivière, has been established to address the region’s successive episodes of frost. The team has formed a long-term partnership with a winemaker from Mont-Ventoux, who shares a similar approach to certified biodynamic viticulture and values closely aligned with those of the Nicolas family. The harvested grapes (Grenache and Aubun) are then vinified in the estate’s cellars to produce red and rosé wines. The lineup is expected to expand in 2022.