Domaine Amirault: Vineyards
As noted in my introduction, the Maison Amirault is located at the heart of the village of St Nicolas de Bourgueil, and the associated appellation naturally forms the core of the Amirault vineyard portfolio. This of course means red wines, made exclusively from Cabernet Franc. Xavier Amirault does have some other varieties planted on his 34 hectares of land though, most notably Chenin Blanc and Chardonnay, which he uses to produce other still and sparkling white wines under more generic designations. The viticultural philosophy I have already alluded to, being organic and biodynamic, and for the record the vines are all certified organic by Ecocert as well as having biodynamic certification from Demeter.
The individual lieux-dits are several in number and I deal with these in the run-down of the various cuvées made here, below.
Domaine Amirault: Wines
The wines made in the St Nicolas de Bourgueil appellation are perhaps the domaine’s raison d’être, so I shall describe these first. In general, the entire domaine is harvested by hand, the fruit sorted after arrival at the cellars in St Nicolas de Bourgueil, and the nature of the subsequent vinification depends on the cuvée.
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