Domaine Poiron-Dabin: Vineyards
Domaine Poiron-Dabin is located in the commune of Château-Thébaud, to the west of the town of Château-Thébaud itself. To the north-east, on the far side of the Maine river which is just a few minutes walk from the domaine lies St-Fiacre, and then just beyond that, on the far side of the Sèvre river, is La Haie-Fouassière.
Jean-Michel Poiron now has 68 hectares to his name, of which the majority is planted to Melon de Bourgogne and is eligible for the Muscadet Sèvre et Maine appellation. About one-fifth is planted to other varieties, including a small area of Folle Blanche, but mainly Pinot Gris as well as smaller areas of Pinot Noir, Chardonnay, Cabernet Franc and Gamay, all of which are sent to market as vin de pays. Overall, the vines are planted at a density of 7000 vines per hectare.
A large part of the domaine is on the granite soils typical of Château-Thébaud; as I indicated in my introduction this is a very friable granite speckled with quartz which – perhaps unusually for granite – allows good penetration of moisture into the bedrock, and which is more easily invaded by the roots of the vines than the harder granite of nearby Clisson. Most of the vin de pays varieties are planted on this land, as well as large areas of Melon de Bourgogne. To the north though, on the slopes running down the Maine river, looking across to St-Fiacre, the rocks here are a brown and rather softer gneiss.
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