Domaine Fouassier: Vineyards
As described in my introduction to this profile of Domaine Fouassier, the cellars are located on the Avenue de Verdun, which runs down to the roundabout just below Sancerre’s old town. Although the vineyards of Sancerre lie very close, the environment here feels very suburban, the leafy avenue lined with large houses, set well back from the road, a few shops and a small school. The domaine in its entirety, however, is huge, the Fouassier family having acquired multiple parcels of vines all over the Sancerre appellation.
Today the Fouassier family tend 59 hectares of vines, all of which lie within 1.5 kilometres of the cellars. The individual lieux-dits represent all of the classic terroirs of Sancerre. There are vines on several different limestones including Calcaire de Bourges, a very chalky soil (and thus often referred to as Calcaire Crayeux de Bourges) known locally as griottes or groux, which to my eye is similar to the classic Oxfordian caillottes but characterised by lots of small, cherry-like stones, as well as Kimmeridgian limestone known as Calcaire de Buzançais and the similarly prized Marnes de Saint-Doulchard. There are, of course, also some vines planted on flint, up in the eastern part of the appellation. I will explore the many different lieux-dits in my account of the winemaking and wines.
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