Thibaud Boudignon: Vineyards
At the time of my first meeting with Thibaud Boudignon in July 2014 he had 3.8 hectares in total (not all of which was in production), although this figure has since climbed, although only slightly to a little over 4 hectares in Savennières, although with ongoing planting and good frost protection (to prevent more vines dying) this figure will climb, while he holds onto his 2 hectares in Anjou. The focus of his domaine is Savennières though, specifically the vineyards around the cellars; his hold on the original Boudignon vines, 1.5 hectares in the lieu-dit of Les Fougeraies, which I suspect he rented from Baron Brincard, he has since relinquished.
It was in 2013 that Thibaud stumbled across the Clos de la Hutte, a fascinating lieu-dit, the site of an old abbey in La Possonnière, very close to the waters of the Loire. He soon acquired this site from the family who owned it, who continue to reside in the house overlooking the vines, of which they retained possession. The site was growing wild, with some well-established trees, nevertheless Thibaud set about clearing the land and he then planted it with Chenin Blanc propagated by the pépiniériste Grégory Gibault, the original material coming from vines more than one hundred years old. This site now accounts for 2.6 hectares of his vines in Savennières. At first all seemed to be going well, but then Thibaud suffered two disastrous vintages back-to-back; he lost 50% of the crop in 2016, and lost it in entirety in 2017, along with the death of 800 vines. It was at this point he gave up on the vines at Les Fougeraies in order to focus on the Clos de la Hutte. Fortunately 2018 was an easier vintage, but then frost struck again in 2019, and he lost two-thirds of the crop.
Thibaud recognised that he needed a robust solution, and so in 2020 at a cost of €30,000 per hectare he installed electric anti-frost protection (pictured below). Subsequent yields were normal in 2021 (despite frost) and 2022. Thibaud is convinced it helps quality as well as yield, as he believes vines stressed through frost give grapes with bitter skins.
