Vineyards: Clos du Bourg & Le Mont
It was Gaston Huet that acquired these two vineyards, both coming into the Huet fold during the 1950s.
Next to join the Huet portfolio was the Clos du Bourg, widely regarded as the most prestigious of the three lieux-dits, and perhaps the most prestigious site in all of Vouvray. The vineyard in question lies to the west of the main Huet cellars, located next to the cemetery, and teetering on the edge of the première côte. The town of Vouvray sits below the vineyard, at the bottom of the slope. It is a true clos, surrounded by a high stone wall, even if it is a little tumbledown in places.
There is considerable history here; records indicate the existence of the Clos du Bourg as long ago as the 7th century when it was owned by the collegiate church of St Martin de Tours. Writing in his Monographie de la Commune de Vouvray et de son Vignoble (Péricat, Tours, 1908), Auguste Chauvigné describes the site which at the time was in the possession of Charles Vavasseur, mayor of Vouvray, and proprietor of Domaine des Bidaudières. Vavasseur owned the Caves de Bourg, which Chauvigné places next to the church in Vouvray, directly beneath the Clos du Bourg. Even today these cellars can still be seen up a side street running by the church, the name Vavasseur clearly displayed over the door, along with the date 1876. It was in these cellars that the wines of the Clos du Bourg (part of which is pictured below, also on page one of this profile) and the other Vavasseur vineyards were vinified, in what seems to have been a very modern facility, equipped with electrically operated presses and mechanical pumps, both of which were out of the ordinary in the early years of the 20th century.
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