Domaine Jaulin-Plaisantin, 2020 Update
It is a few years since I last called in on Yves Plaisantin at the domaine he shares with Sébastien Jaulin up on Chinon’s première côte, and so it was a delight to bump into him recently in Tours. For those who don’t remember, Yves trained in the Rhône Valley, followed by a long stint in the USA, only returning to France in 2008. Looking to settle down and make wine, he entered a partnership with Sébastien, who had the vineyards and the cellars, but perhaps not the energy or resolve to carry on alone. Meanwhile, Yves and Matthieu Baudry established the Cabane à Vin, a popular wine bar in Chinon’s town centre now run by Yves’ wife Émilie Riopel, a French-Canadian. It was there, if I recall correctly, that I first encountered the Jaulin-Plaisantin wines.
When I last visited this domaine Yves (pictured above) and Sébastien had a nicely defined portfolio of reds, while the white was something of an afterthought; with no suitable white vines planted (other than a few rows of Semillon – quite a curiosity for this part of the world), they found themselves producing one from fruit purchased in Montlouis-sur-Loire. With a combination of planting and top-grafting, however, this is now changing, and the portfolio now includes a home-grown, home-vinified white, which I also report on here.
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