Famille Lieubeau: Estates & Vineyards
The Lieubeau family is located less than two kilometres southwest of the town of Château-Thébaud, not far from the Maine, which flows by about a kilometre to the east. In this region the terroir is largely gneiss, schist and granite, in particular Granit de Château-Thébaud, although the Lieubeau family have some vines planted further afield, for example in the Clisson cru communal, and they also work with a grower who has vines in Goulaine.
The family have about 100 hectares of land (some they own, some is rented) dotted around the domaine, of which about 70 hectares are planted up, the remainder being meadows. The vineyards are mostly planted to Melon de Bourgogne, but there are also some other varieties to be found here, especially Sauvignon Blanc, Chardonnay and Pinot Noir. The planting density is 6,500 vines per hectare across the entire estate, the pruning of the Melon de Bourgogne vines the traditional Guyot Nantaise, a local variation on the Guyot method. For many years the overarching philosophy in the vineyard was lutte raisonnée, and the Lieubeau family subscribed to the ideals of Terra Vitis, as did Jean Douillard before them. In recent times there has been a move towards certified organic viticulture and today many of the vineyards are certified organic.
Please log in to continue reading: