Domaine du Clos des Aumônes: Vineyards
Benoît Coulon has 16 hectares of vines, all of which are situated in the commune of Rochecorbon, which makes the rather functional location of his cellars ideal.
The principal vineyard is the Clos des Aumônes, where Benoît has 5 hectares of vines, undeniably on the première côte. Adding in other similarly positioned parcels, including La Fuye, which sits close to La Lanterne, a 15th-century watchtower (the sole remnant of an ancient fortress) which overlooks the Loire, Benoît and proudly states that two-thirds of his domaine is positioned on the premières côtes. The remaining one-third is positioned higher up on the plateau, nestled in the Vaufoynard valley, which is on the more western side of the appellation, and in truth not that far back from the plateau edge.
Underfoot, the soils are principally clay, over a deep bed of Turonian limestone; the soils are peppered with fossilised shark teeth, and in just a few years Benoît has collected hundreds of such teeth – including that pictured above.
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