Charles Joguet: A Domaine
To understand Charles Joguet’s achievements it is necessary to place them in the context of mid-20th century Chinon. This was a time when, as I indicated in my introduction, it was the norm to sell your wine to the local négociants, and so work in the vineyard and cellar chez Joguet had been geared towards this rather modest aim. Several local figures influenced Charles in these early years, the first of whom was Marcel Angelliaume, a vigneron from Cravant-les-Coteaux. Marcel advised Charles to move away from selling his wine in bulk, direct from barrel, and instead to bottle his own wine. Charles did just that, becoming in an instant one of the earliest adherents to domaine bottling in the appellation.
Two other men were significant sources of advice to Charles in these early years. The first was Jacques Puisais, the founder of the Institut du Goût and also Honorary President of the Oenologues Internationaux, and the second a notable figure named Tafonneau, who seems to have been regarded as one of the leading viticulteurs of the appellation at this time. One can only imagine these figures rallying round to support and encourage the young Charles, recently returned home to support his mother. Following their advice he moved the domaine away from mixed agriculture, and towards solely viticulture. Between 1972 and 1976 he purchased and planted several new vineyards, one of which was the Clos du Chêne Vert, the view from which towards the château in Chinon (pictured) is quite magnificent. In building up the domaine in this manner, Joguet sowed the seeds for the much broader range of cuvées offered by the estate today.
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