Clos des Capucins
Appellation: Chinon
Owner: Fiona Beeston
Ten-second primer: A historic estate situated very close, located just above the Clos de l’Hospice and looking across to the Royal Fortress, with just 1 hectare of vines within the clos, which Fiona Beeston uses in the production of her Clos des Capucins grand vin.
This profile includes: Four pages of history and detail (links above), and tasting notes back to 2015.
“Do you want to see what remains of the convent?” asked proprietor-vigneron Fiona Beeston.
I looked around, but saw nothing that looked like the remains of the Couvent des Capucins, that which had been built here during the early 17th century. The house, which stands at the top of the slope overlooking the vines, was clearly several centuries younger. And I knew she could not be referring to the imposing Couvent des Calvairiennes, the immaculately restored and maintained building at the very foot of the slope (which in any case has its own associated vineyard, the Clos de l’Hospice).
Seeing my affirmative nod, Fiona turned around and immediately disappeared into a small walled cutting (pictured below) in her gardens, its limestone walls painted green with lichen and moss, and draped in a curtain of ivy.
I darted after her as she descended, and seconds later we were standing in an ancient and dimly lit cellar. History if not time itself seemed to exude from its dark walls and low arched ceiling. It had perhaps once been a scullery or kitchen – the fireplace in one corner supported this theory – where meals for the monks, resident in the long-disappeared house above, would be prepared. In more modern times it has understandably served as a barrel cellar, the cool subterranean temperature ideal for storing barrels filled with the latest vintage. Although as Fiona has now established new winemaking facilities behind the house, the subterranean scullery-kitchen-cum-cellar now stands empty.
Perhaps more importantly, today it exists as testament to the presence of the Capuchins in Chinon, and justifies the name of this place; the Clos des Capucins.
