Château du Petit Thouars
Head west from Chinon along the left bank of the Vienne and it is easy to forget you are driving through one of France’s largest and most significant wine regions. While the landscape on the opposite bank, around Beaumont-en-Véron, is blanketed with the vines of the Chinon appellation, here on the south side of the river the vineyards seem few and far between.
The reason for this is quite straightforward. Back in the 1930s when many of France’s appellations were first defined, it was clear to the vignerons of many of the country’s wine towns that the Appellation d’Origine Contrôlée system was the future. Chinon was no exception, and those who tended vines around the town itself, to the west in Beaumont-en-Véron, and on the left bank of the Vienne facing the town all elected to join this novel system.
Having said that, dotted across France there were some vignerons who were dissuaded from signing up to this new system by the associated costs and new regulations. This was the case in Saint-Germain-sur-Vienne, overlooking the river from the south bank of the Vienne; the end result was that any vineyards planted here are today restricted to the generic Touraine appellation, rather than the rather more famed Chinon appellation.
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