Château de Plaisance: Vineyards
Château de Plaisance enjoys a commanding position on the Chaume vineyard, just on the cusp where Chaume becomes Quarts de Chaume. The nearest neighbour is Cédric Bourez of Clos Galerne, who came to Anjou from Provence and started off with cellars in Saint-Lambert-du-Lattay, but he has since relocated to the Butte de Chaume. Otherwise there are few other properties on the Butte de Chaume (naturally, it is mostly planted to vines) although the little hamlet of Chaume itself lies just 500 metres further down the slope. Beyond that we can find Château L’Écharderie (another grand old dame of the butte, the wines of which I cannot recall ever seeing for sale), the old Château Belle-Rive and Château de Suronde, now under the same management of course. At the top of the slope sits Château de la Guimonière, the wines of which are encountered only slightly more frequently than those of Château L’Écharderie.
There are 25 hectares associated with Château de Plaisance here, the majority of which are closely approximated to the château, split between the Coteaux du Layon Chaume and Quarts de Chaume appellations, although much of the wine made here has neither appellation. A small parcel lies at the very top of the Corniche Angevine, on the other side of the D54, as the road heads down again, in the direction of Rochefort-sur-Loire. Of these 25 hectares, 22 are planted to Chenin Blanc, including 2 hectares in Les Zerzilles (the parcel in which we are walking, above), in the Quarts de Chaume appellation.
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