Domaine Fabrice Gasnier: Vineyards
As noted in my opening paragraphs, Domaine Fabrice Gasnier is located in the little hamlet of Chezelet, close to the eastern peripheries of the Chinon appellation (although the appellation does stretch some way upriver from here, beyond L’Île Bouchard to Crouzilles, where there are a number of long-established vineyards). The boundary line between the communes of Panzoult (to the east) and Cravant-les-Coteaux (to the west) bisects the hamlet, and Fabrice and family are on the Cravant side.
As already notes the domaine has 36 hectares of vineyards (divided between 40 discrete parcels), planted almost exclusively to Cabernet Franc, which accounts for 95% of the vines. As already noted there was once also a little Cabernet Sauvignon planted here, as was common across many domaines in Chinon, Bourgueil and Saumur, but this is no longer the case, the climate and soils in Touraine being far better suited to Cabernet Franc. The remaining 5% is thus Chenin Blanc, the domaine producing a tiny volume of white wine alongside the portfolio of reds.
Most of the vineyards are dotted to the west of Chezelet in the commune of Cravant-les-Coteaux, although more on the gravelly and alluvial soils of the terraces and valley floor than the prized clay and limestone soils of the côtes.
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