Domaine de la Charmoise: Vineyards
The domaine covers 62 hectares in all. The vines have a good age, the majority having been planted between 1967 and 1978, with eight hectares planted more recently between 1990 and 1991. Red varieties dominate, principally Gamay, accounting for approximately two-thirds of the vineyard. Although the two Cabernets are popular varieties for those wishes to try their hand at producing a red wine in the Loire Valley, Henry Marionnet has long been of the opinion that these varieties are poorly suited to his particular vineyards nestled between the Loir and Cher, and he has the same opinion of Pinot Noir. He prefers to work with other varieties which he feels are better suited to the terroir and climate, opting instead for Gamay and Côt.
Many of the vineyards include sections of ungrafted vines. Among the Côt vineyards, for example, there was a parcel of ungrafted vines planted in 1990 (and replaced in 2000), Henri’s planting of vines franc de pied having been inspired by the work of Charles Joguet, who planted a hectare of similarly ungrafted vines in Les Varennes du Grand Clos )although the Joguet vines were pulled up in 2007, as they succumbed to phylloxera, and it will be interesting to see if the Marionnet family has the temerity to persist in the face of continuing phylloxera attack).
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