Château de Coulaine: Wines
Speaking in general first of all, the fruit is all hand-harvested, and only natural indigenous yeasts are used for the fermentations. There is as a policy of zero-chaptalisation, a clay filtration after fermentation, bottling without fining and only light use of sulphites. For more details I will deal with the cuvées one by one, as follows, starting with white:
When I first tasted the wines of this estate the opener in white was a white domaine cuvée, sold under the Château de Coulaine label, made from Chenin Blanc vines on clay and flint soils on the lower parts of the south-facing slopes. This has since been superseded by the Sinople cuvée, sourced from a small parcel of vines aged more than 30 years in the Clos de Coulaine, on soils of clay and silt over white limestone. The fruit is pressed then the juice barrel-fermented followed by barrel-aging with bâtonnage; the oak includes 20% new wood, and the élevage lasts eleven months, liberating the barrels in time for the next vintage.
The second white wine is Les Pieds Rôtis, made under the Touraine appellation up to and including the 2016 vintage, but as Chinon from 2017 onwards, following the expansion of the appellation’s boundaries. There are 1.5 hectares planted, all Chenin Blanc again, in Saint-Germain and Thizay, on the opposite bank of the Vienne, on soils of gravel, fossilised sponges, clay and sand over limestone. It is fermented in used oak, and sees an élevage in same for eleven months before bottling.
A relatively new introduction to the portfolio of wines is Clos de la Cure, a third white wine from a lieu-dit most strongly associated with the domaine of Charles Joguet. The vines are quite young, and are planted on clay and gravel soils on a north-facing slope. The fruit is vinified and aged in stoneware jarres, bringing a welcome sense of frame to the palate.
Many years ago there was a sparkling wine which also made an occasional appearance, although I never tasted it myself, and have not seen any evidence of it for many years.
