Domaine de Bellivière: Vineyards
The vineyards of the Coteaux du Vendômois, Jasnières and Coteaux du Loir appellations run alongside the Loir, the Coteaux du Vendômois being the highest of the three, followed by Jasnières and Coteaux du Loir, for former essentially a small enclave within the latter. Only these lower two are of relevance to Domaine de Bellivière. The three appellations form a discrete island of vineyards, their location close to the river, several kilometres to the north of the vineyards of Vouvray, Touraine Mesland and Bourgueil. Once past the Coteaux du Loir, the Loir courses northwards through La Flèche (where there is a very good zoo, by the way), before eventually joining the Sarthe, and then the Maine, just north of Angers.
Eric, Christine and Clément Nicolas have control over about 20 hectares of vineyard, a figure which hides a huge diversity of tiny parcels, all spread over five of the communes eligible for the Jasnières and Coteaux du Loir appellations. In Jasnières they have about 7 hectares, in Lhomme and in Ruillé-sur-Loir (upriver, east of Lhomme), these vineyards planted exclusively to Chenin Blanc of course, this being the only variety eligible for this appellation. In the Coteaux du Loir appellation they have about 13 hectares, including several hectares planted to Chenin Blanc, the rest to red varieties, principally Pineau d’Aunis (the leading red grape of this appellation) and Gamay, of varying types, as well as Grolleau. These vines are located in and Chahaignes, Marçon and Dissay-sous-Courcillon (all down-river, west and south-west of Lhomme). They own more than half of their vineyard, while the remainder are farmed on the basis of various tenancy agreements. The soils are predominantly limestone and clay, but some are characterised by areas of flint and sand (it is remarkable how sandy some soils can be in the Loire, even a considerable distance from any large nearby river).
