Château du Petit Thouars: Vineyards
As I described in my introduction to this profile Château du Petit Thouars sits on the south bank of the Vienne, well downstream from the town of Chinon itself. Indeed it is very close to the new limit of the appellation; it sits a very short distance from Fontevraud-l’Abbaye, and the boundary of the Saumur appellation is very close by. It is a landscape dominated by arable agriculture and woodland, and the vines of Château du Petit Thouars stand out in isolation.
Château du Petit Thouars has a very extensive estate spread over 150 hectares, perhaps unsurprising in view of its ancient grandeur. As hinted at above, however, much of this is woodland and farmland. Today there are just 15 hectares of vines which are largely situated in a 13-hectare block behind and above the château. In addition there are a couple of smaller parcels more closely approximated to the Petit Thouars residence. The vines are mostly Cabernet Franc, although there is also a 0.75-hectare parcel of Chenin Blanc which Sébastien and Michel planted in 2010 and 2011, as a trial. Sébastien plans to plant more in the future, which will bring the total area dedicated to Chenin Blanc up to perhaps 3 hectares. As for the Cabernet Franc vines, these was all planted by Yves in stages, between 1980 and 1988. Today there is just a little complantation to replace missing vines.
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