Château de Bonnezeaux: Vineyards
Château de Bonnezeaux sits in a privileged position on the slopes of Bonnezeaux, which in terms of soils are no less blessed than those of the Quarts de Chaume, even if the slopes are less dramatic, and they are less convincingly exploited. The château is shielded from view by a dense copse of trees which almost completely surrounds it, nevertheless the vineyards are more open and easily viewed. Below the property, in the river valley, runs the Layon, alongside which sits the nearest town of any considerable size, Thouarcé. The village of Bonnezeaux itself, for which the appellation is named, sits slightly higher up the slope. As noted in my introduction to this profile, Château de Bonnezeaux is located close to Château de Fesles, which sits a short distance to the east, while behind it higher up the slope is the Domaine de Fontaines, for years home to the Rousseau family.
At the beginning there were just two parcels of vines. That which was still attached to the château is La Montagne, and having been completely abandoned Guyonne and Lois committed to replant this 0.8-hectare parcel in 2012. The first harvest of a commercial quantity of fruit from these new vines was 2016, and thus this was their first vintage, in which they released a single cuvée. In the meantime they purchased a second parcel called Vieille Vigne du Fief Prévost from a neighbour. This parcel amounts to 1.2 hectares, although there are many missing vines here; it lives on because the age of the vines, over 50 years, means Guyonne and Louis are reluctant to replant. In order to start with manageable volumes they sold the fruit from the Fief Prévost parcel rather than vinifying it themselves.
