Francis Blanchet: Vineyards
Francis Blanchet has 10 hectares of vineyards, of which approximately half he owns outright, the rest he rents. These vines are spread over three communes of the Pouilly-Fumé appellation, including Pouilly-sur-Loire, Saint-Andélain and Tracy-sur-Loire. As a consequence of the scattering of his vines across the appellation he has a good range of Pouilly-Fume terroirs at his disposal, a variety which translates through to his portfolio of wines. He has vines planted first on Kimmeridgian marl, secondly on soils of clay and flint in Saint Andélain, not far from Château du Nozet of Domaine de Ladoucette, and thirdly he has vines planted on Barrois and Villiers limestones.
The vines are 100% Sauvignon Blanc, this being one domaine where the usual token plot of Chasselas does not exist. The vineyards are planted at a density of 6600 vines per hectare, and are pruned using the single Guyot method. Some of the older parcels are fifty and sixty years of age. The domaine is not officially organic, but Francis aims for sustainable methods and as little use of chemicals as he thinks possible. His method of working is described by Francis himself, quite correctly, as agriculture raisonnée. He uses no herbicides during the growing season, and as I alluded in my introduction he manages the vineyards by growing cover crops between the rows, or working the soil by plough and hoe. When it comes to deciding whether he needs to apply treatments, Francis does this on a plot-by-plot basis after inspecting the vines.
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