Domaine de Bablut: Vineyards
Today the domaine covers 55 hectares of the Anjou vineyard, vineyards which are scattered around the cellars in Brissac-Quincé, situated along the right bank of the Aubance as it meanders its way westwards. The domaine was larger under Jean-Pierre Daviau, who also used to manage the vineyards of the Château de Brissac mentioned on the previous page, but the family brought this responsibility to an end at the turn of the century, bringing the volume at harvest down to a more manageable level.
An interesting facet of the domaine’s position is that the vineyard straddles Anjou’s two major terroirs. Some eastern parcels are located on the limestones of L’Anjou Blanc, the very westernmost reaches of the Bassin Parisien, while those parcels to the west are on the Ordovician and Silurian schists, sandstones and shales of L’Anjou Noir, as the ancient rocks of the Massif Armoricain appear from beneath the limestone bed. This makes for an interesting portfolio of wines, with cuvées of Chenin Blanc, Cabernet Franc and Cabernet Sauvignon from both of these Loire Valley terroirs.
Among the vineyards on the Massif Armoricain the most significant is arguably Petit Princé, a 6-hectare parcel which is planted almost entirely to Chenin Blanc. This is a broad plateau, exposed and quite breezy, and underfoot the soils are sandstone-schist (pictured below, and known locally as schiste-gréseux; my translation is the best I can come up with) and quartz. The fruit from these vines is the source of the Petit Princé cuvée.
