Domaine FL: Château de Chamboureau
Domaine FL now incorporates one of the most significant properties in the Savennières appellation, and it therefore seems appropriate to look back at the history of this domaine. The property is no less impressive to the eye than Château des Vaults, Château d’Epiré or Château de la Roche aux Moines, and in fact in some respects it trumps them all. While it is certainly less immediately imposing than its peers, being more a collection of ancient buildings dotted around a courtyard rather than displaying one grand, eye-catching frontage, its elegance cannot be overlooked. The four-sided bell-shaped roofs that sit atop the little towers on either side of the entrance to the courtyard are particularly easy on the eye. These are relatively modern additions, however, having been built a ‘mere’ century or two ago. The oldest part of the château is the octagonal pointed tower (pictured) that sits at the back of the courtyard, directly at the front of the château, as this dates to the 16th century.
It seems widely agreed that there has been at least four centuries of viticulture and winemaking at Château de Chamboureau. Given the fact that we are a very short walk from ancient vineyards such as the Clos de la Coulée de Serrant (which directly abuts the Chamboureau vineyard), where vines have been tended by Cistercian monks since perhaps the 12th century, this ancient heritage seems entirely plausible. Having said that, solid information on the proprietors here is hard to come by, although there are numerous clues waiting to be discovered among documents describing the history of the noble families of Anjou, or the work at the Présidial d’Angers, the top legal court of the region, which was established in 1551. Numerous references to the bourgeois Béguyer de Chamboureau family exist from the 18th century onwards. The most notable was perhaps Antoine-Auguste Béguyer de Chamboureau, an officer in the courts as far back as 1776, and by 1811 he had been promoted to président de chambre in the Cour d’Appel in Angers.
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