Catherine & Pierre Breton: Vineyards
Catherine and Pierre Breton are based just north of Restigné, one of the eight communes eligible for the Bourgueil appellation, and certainly one of the more highly regarded. The domaine is based in an old but well-restored farmhouse with adjacent cellars, surrounded by the vines of the Galichets vineyard. Les Galichets is but one part of their domaine, however, as the pair have about 18 hectares of vineyards to their name, including 12 hectares in Bourgueil. Here they have two really significant parcels, in Les Perrières and Clos Sénéchal. The other 6 hectares are in Vouvray. In addition, they rent several hectares of vines in Chinon.
The philosophy in the vineyard is certainly organic, with a sprinkling of biodynamics for good measure. As for the individual parcels of vines, I explore the characteristics of these in my run-down of the various cuvées, as presented below.
Catherine & Pierre Breton: Wines
Yields are restricted to something like 40 to 45 hl/ha (although some cuvées are below 35 hl/ha) and harvest is as a rule by hand, picking into small 20-kilogram trays. Once the grapes have arrived at the cellars they are meticulously sorted and then fermented according to terroir, with those from gravelly soils going into stainless steel, whereas those from clay-limestone vineyards are fermented in old oak vats.
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