Clos la Néore: Vineyards
The domaine is based in Chavignol, and all the Clos la Néore vines are also found in the confines of this little hamlet. Although it seems that up until the point he retired Edmond Vatan had several parcels of vines, as much as 3.5 hectares during the 1980s, after Anne took over the running on the domaine she rented out all the peripheral vineyards.
This left her with just 1 hectare of vines, the original Clos la Néore, which is located on Les Monts Damnés, the vertiginous vine-coated south-facing slope which runs up above the houses of the hamlet. The terroir is, therefore, purely Kimmeridgian limestone and marl. The clos was replanted by Edmond in 1970, so the vines are now all well over forty-years old. The replanting process was achieved through sélection massale. Edmond took cuttings from his vines and then lifted them in 1969. The cuttings he grafted onto new rootstock, and it was these new grafted vines that he replanted the following year. The process therefore can be viewed as having preserved the genetic heritage of the domaine.
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