Château de Bonnezeaux, 2022 Update
The appellation of Bonnezeaux has seen its fair share of hard times. The three gentle hills of Bonnezeaux have never generated the same interest among the viticultural cognoscenti of the region as the butte of Chaume. There has never been any sign of Claude Papin, Patrick Baudouin or Jo Pithon making waves in Bonnezeaux as they have all done, at one time or another, in Quarts de Chaume. While the wines of Château des Fesles, arguably the estate’s flagship domaine, are strong in terms of quality, the extremely modest prices they command compared to other leading sweet wines in Quarts de Chaume or even Sauternes tell us all we need to know about this appellation’s fall from grace.
Emblematic of this ignominious decline is Château de Bonnezeaux, once the ancestral seat of the Prévost family, who were mentioned in centuries-old documents pertaining to the wines of the region. In modern times the property spiralled into a near-terminal diminishment, so that by the end of the 20th century there were barely any vines left. It was ripe for rescue, which came in 2012 when it was taken on by Louis du Bouëxic du Pinieux and his niece Guyonne Saclier de la Bâtie. Guyonne was in the driving seat; it was she who inherited the property from her parents, and in preparation she had learnt about viticulture and winemaking at the knee of Mark Angeli.
The Domaine Today
More detail on the resuscitation of the estate, and its two tiny surviving parcels of vines, I provide in my profile of the property. In the three years that have since passed since that profile was published, however, the running of the domaine has changed significantly. Firstly the team was expanded so that it so Guyonne and Louis were joined by an associate, Pierre Boisseau, and they took on a new winemaker, Florian Zuliani (although he has also since left, to start his own project).
At the same time the vineyard has seen significant expansion, as having started off with barely a few rows of vines the estate has now grown to 7 hectares, of which 5 hectares are planted to vines. This has naturally led to an expansion in the portfolio of wines.
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