Domaine des Bérioles: Vineyards
The domaine is located in a small hamlet named Cesset, which lies a few kilometres west of the town of Saint-Pourçain-sur-Sioule. The Sioule flows northwards to join the Allier, which joins the Loire at Nevers; it is this that really connects this otherwise rather isolated wine region to the Loire Valley. The nearest mainstream wine regions are those of Centre-Val de Loire, such as Menetou-Salon and Sancerre, which are more than 150 kilometres to the north. A little closer are the Côte Roannaise and the Côtes du Forez, the first just 80 kilometres to the east.
This is therefore a very rural, agricultural landscape, and the domaine sits surrounded by fields of wheat and oats rather than vineyards. Nevertheless, the domaine does have at least 12 hectares of vines planted on multiple parcels dotted around the region. These include 3 hectares of Tressallier, which at the time of writing comprises perhaps 10% of the entire world’s plantings of this rather rare variety. Planted alongside this there are 3 hectares of Chardonnay, 4 hectares of Pinot Noir and 2 hectares of Gamay. The terroirs are an interesting mix of clay and limestone in parts, granite in others, a reflection of this region’s position close to the boundary between the predominantly limestone bedrock of the Bassin Parisien to the north and the Massif Central to the south.
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