Domaine de Beauséjour
Although for many years a widely admired property in the Chinon appellation, Domaine de Beauséjour does not at first glance seem to have an ancient viticultural history. Its origins apparently lie in the 18th century, when it was a polycultural farm run with allegiance to nearby Château du Roncée. This ancient château, sadly destroyed during the French Revolution, was situated at the side of the road running from Panzoult down to L’Île Bouchard; today only the dovecot, in a remarkably good state of repair, remains.
At least this is the story everyone tells you. And yet, exploring Domaine de Beauséjour with new owner Ivan Massonnat late in 2023 we poked our noses into some of the troglodytic rooms (which by themselves suggest a much longer story of human activity here) carved from the wall of rock that runs along the top of the estate and discovered something which would suggest a different viticultural history. There – to my great surprise – was a limestone cuve, a fermentation vessel carved from the region’s Turonian limestone, one exactly like that utilised by Jérôme Billard at Domaine de la Noblaie. Given that it has been postulated his domaine was worked by (orn on behalf of) the Templars, could Domaine de Beauséjour have equally ancient early-medieval origins?
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