Domaine La Grange Tiphaine
Touraine rouge 2025 Ad Libitum
Reviews
The Wine Advocate 90/100
Vinified and matured in tanks with purchased grapes, the 2023 Touraine Ad Libitum, a blend of 50% Côt, or Malbec, 30% Gamay and 20% Cabernet Franc, reveals a gourmand, elegant bouquet of cassis, mulberries and flowers. Moderately weighted and juicy, it has a lively, tensile mid-palate framed by gently brittle tannins, concluding with a long and fresh finish.
Coralie and Damien Delecheneau represent the fourth generation to work on the family estate, though their arrival marked significant changes, not only in rebranding the name but also in farming philosophy. Both are graduates of the Bordeaux University of Oenology: Coralie set off for an international stint in California, while Damien remained in France, gaining experience at Laroche in Chablis and Château Lafon-Rochet in Saint-Estèphe before returning to the family domaine in 2002. At the time, the estate comprised nine hectares; today, it spans nearly 19 hectares across two appellations: Touraine-Amboise and Montlouis. Coralie joined the estate in 2009, by which point Damien had already initiated organic conversion in 2007. Biodynamic practices were started in 2010, with certification achieved in 2014.
In the cellar, the couple employs a customized approach to wine production: short maturation periods of nine to 10 months for wines in concrete vats and considerably longer durations—19 to 20 months—for wines that undergo vinification and aging in oak. Their white wines do not undergo systematic malolactic fermentation and are vinified and matured in barrels sourced from Atelier Centre France or Taransaud. Sulfur use is strictly limited, which may occasionally explain the presence of phenols, particularly in the red wines. This estate remains a consistent source of stunning white wines—aromatic and crystalline, taut and precise.
