Bonnigal-Bodet
It would be easy to pass by the little village of Limeray, cut into a narrow valley in the limestone côte on the north side of the Loire, just upstream of Amboise, without giving it so much as a second glance.
The Rue d’Enfer, the narrow street which winds its way up to the plateau, is smartly presented but otherwise unremarkable. Each side is lined with cellars, giving us a big clue as to the reason this settlement exists. That reason can be found on the slopes on either side of the village, or on the plateau above; an expansive blanket of vines. Indeed, there seems to be no occupation in this small village that is not directly related to wine. It is easy to imagine Limeray has seen a few hundred years of peaceful harvests and vinifications, and little else.
As it happens, this is some way from the truth. There has been human occupation on these slopes for millennia, evidence for which comes from archaeological finds dating to prehistory uncovered just a few hundred metres downstream at Le Buisson. During Gallo-Roman times Limeray was a military border post on the edge of the Turonian lands, and it remained occupied during the Merovingian and Carolingian eras. Coins marked Limeriaco are taken as proof there was a coin mint here during the former period, more specifically during the 6th and 7th centuries.
Subsequent to this Limeray ended up a possession of the seigneurs of Amboise, and it was a significant settlement. During the 11th century a parish church was built at the foot of the slope, and during the 14th century the village saw the construction of a palais de justice on the aforementioned Rue d’Enfer. This latter building initially served as a courthouse for the prévôté (the royal provost) of Limeray, but by the 16th century it was in private hands, and had already been repurposed as an agricultural store. In other words, a barn.
This former royal courthouse would eventually come into the hands of the Bonnigal family, which is presumably why Georges Bonnigal, setting himself up as a vigneron in the early 20th-century, christened his new venture Domaine de la Prévôté.
