Château de Coulaine, 2019 Update
There is no doubt which Chinon domaine wins the prize for the most exotic and impressive château. Sitting in a prominent position overlooking the road which runs between Bourgueil and Chinon (so it is a road I have passed along many times, as you might imagine), Château de Coulaine towers above its grounds, which slope down towards the road, and above its vineyards. It also has an enviable history stretching back many centuries, eventually coming into the hands of the noble Bonnaventure family in fairly recent times, during the 20th century in fact.
For years the winemaking here has been down to Etienne de Bonnaventure, but as I reported last year Etienne has left the domaine for good, and you will now find him working in the cellars of François Pinon in Vouvray (as indeed I did when I called in on François and Julien Pinon in May this year). The running of the domaine thus now falls to Pascale de Bonnaventure and their son, Jean de Bonnaventure (pictured above). As a consequence there is a suggestion the winemaking may have moved on a little; certainly on this encounter the wines felt a little cleaner than they have in the past. Just a little, mind.
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