Pascal Lambert: Vineyards
The domaine is located on a road off the D21, west of Cravant-les-Coteaux, a few hundred metres east of Bernard Baudry in Sonnay. It is not to be confused with the domaine of Patrick Lambert, an easy mistake to make perhaps, especially as Patrick happens to have more prominently positioned roadside facilities on this same stretch of the D21.
The domaine has grown considerably from the 4 hectares they worked in the late 1980s, and today Pascal and Béatrice have 14 hectares to their name, divided between the communes of Chinon and Cravant-les-Coteaux. Although the domaine is located in prime position on the limestone côte the vines are, as is usual for most domaines in this region, scattered in multiple plots across the varied terroirs that are associated with the appellation. This means there are some vines planted on the alluvial gravels which are on the plain of the Vienne, there are others on the limestone, usually with clay, of the côte. Pascal also casts the spotlight on the flinty soils of the region, easily overlooked, with at least one of his cuvées. The mix of flint and clay known locally as perruches is one most of us would probably more readily associate with the vineyards of Vouvray and Montlouis than with Chinon. Nevertheless several vignerons work flinty soils here, some of them well known, not only Pascal but also Philippe Alliet and Domaine Jaulin-Plaisantin, among others.
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