Domaine de la Chevalerie

The town of Bourgueil lies on the northern bank of the Loire, east of Saumur and not far from Chinon. Lacking a famous son like Chinon's Rabelais, and saddled with an unpronounceable name, it has had to content itself with making possibly the finest of all red Loire wines. It has had a lot of practice - wine has been made here since Roman times. However, it was with the coming of the monasteries that the vineyards began to flourish. Abbot Baudry from the Benedictine Bourgueil Abbey did more than most to promote the local wine - his generosity and his parties were justly famous!

The Bourgueil appellation covers seven communes and the soil is of two distinct types: sand and gravel near the river; clay over tuffa limestone on the slopes. Our vineyard, Domaine de la Chevalerie, is in the commune of Restigné at the centre of the appellation. The Caslot family has been making wine in Restigné since 1640, and they now have about 50 acres of vines. Here the clay and flint subsoil gives the wine a more robust character which helps it age well.

The farmhouse sits on the hill overlooking the village. As you enter the courtyard, a dark tunnel, its entrance half covered with vegetation, leads down to the family cellar. Long, narrow staircases also lead down from the courtyard and the barn. Hewn into the tuffa behind and beneath the farmhouse, the cellar is so huge that you cannot help fearing that the house itself might fall in upon you at any moment. Here lies the inheritance. Row upon row, stack upon stack of unlabelled pleasure!