A Visit to Domaine des Aubuisières & L’Arcadie, 2024
The little stretch of vineyards which runs between the Rue de la Croix Buisée and the Rue de la Vallée Chartier are some of the Vouvray appellation’s most prestigious. Three famous lieux-dits occupy this particular section of the première côte, starting at the western end with the first, Le Mont, a vineyard which earned its stripes with Domaine Huet. To the east, but also wrapped around the back of Le Mont, is the second notable lieu-dit, Les Perruches; while the name will not be familiar to all, many of these vines are in the possession of the Foreau family, of Domaine du Clos Naudin, and it is thus the source of much of the fruit used to produce this domaine’s exemplary portfolio of wines. Other well-known names also have vines in Les Perruches though, including Champalou and Domaine Huet again.
Of course, both Domaine Huet and Domaine du Clos Naudin are located nearby, on the aforementioned Rue de la Croix Buisée, their cellars tunnelled beneath these vineyards.
The third of this trio of lieux-dits has long been associated with a somewhat more distant domaine; Les Girardières has for years provided Bernard Fouquet, of Domaine des Aubuisières, located on the Rue de la Vallée de Nouy, with some of his best fruit.
I have always felt there was an air of mystery around Les Girardières. At the northeast corner of the vineyard there is the entrance to a long gravel driveway which runs through the vines before it is swallowed up by a distant pocket of woodland which teeters close to the edge of the plateau. Poking up and out from between these trees there are rooftops, suggesting the presence of an imposing château and numerous outbuildings (pictured below). But who lives here, if anyone? And what relationship do they have with Les Girardières, if any at all?
