Château de Chaintres: Vineyards
As already indicated in my introduction, the domaine can be found in Chaintre, a small hamlet within the Saumur-Champigny appellation. The château overlooks an expansive clos, within which lie 18 hectares of vines. All told there are only 20 hectares to the domaine, so it is an impressive proportion of these vines that can be found within this clos. The soils are typical for the region, with limestone and clay underfoot across most of the vineyard. On the higher section of the clos there are more sandy soils, and although these were not managed differently under Krishna Lester today Richard Desouche handles the fruit of these vines separately, channelling them into a more basic cuvée. The slope is gentle but affords the vines a southerly aspect which maximises exposure.
The vineyard is planted solely with Cabernet Franc, as might be imagined for the Saumur-Champigny appellation, with an average vine age of 35 to 40 years, although some individual vines have reached 90 years of age. There are also some white vines though, all Chenin Blanc, which are used in the production of a single white cuvée. In the early years of the 21st century under Krishna Lester the vineyard was managed along the lines of agriculture raisonnée, but once Richard Desouche took the vineyard in hand he quickly began to move towards even more sustainable methods of farming. He stopped using chemical herbicides on the estate shortly after his arrival, and by 2009 the use of all chemicals in the vineyard was brought to a halt. In 2010 he began the process of full conversion of the vineyard to organic viticulture. Practices today are certainly organic, with a sprinkling of biodynamics, with adherence to the biodynamic calendar at the very least.
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