Couly-Dutheil, 2017 Chinon ‘Clos de l'Echo’
Couly-Dutheil is one of benchmark producers in Chinon. The estate was established by Baptiste Duthiel in 1921. Baptiste's daughter Madeleine married René Couly, which is how the name Couly-Duthiel was born. Today, it is Arnaud Couly, Madeleine's grandson, who runs the domaine.
The estate spans 90 hectares in Chinon, of which about 80ha are planted with Cabernet Franc. Of all of their vineyards, two of their most prize sites are the Clos de l'Echo and Clos de l'Olive, both of which are located in the commune of Chinon.
Clos de l'Echo is, by all accounts, one of the most highly-regarded vineyards for Cabernet Franc in Chinon, if not, perhaps even the Loire. Baptiste Duthiel purchased his first hectare here back in 1925 and slowly over time the family purchased all the remaining parcels and now have a monopole for this vineyard - which spans about 17 hectares.
Now, a bit of history about this famed site. It is believed that it was likely owned by royalty back during the 12th century as it is situated just a few hundred meters from the Chinon Fortress, which was home to many kings during this time. Fast forward to the 15th century, and the vineyard was part of the estate of Antoine Rabelais, the father of Chinon's most famous son, author and philosopher François Rabelais. With the onset of Phylloxera, the vines were all ripped out and the site was planted with wheat until Baptiste Duthiel came along and purchased his first hectare and began to replant the site to vines in the 1930s. And the name - what's in a name? Well, the proximity to the northern most wall of the Chinon Fortress, which is visible from the vineyard, has significance. If you shout from the vineyard towards the wall, your voice will echo. And the lore says that men used to come to this place to ask the walls if their lovers were faithful.
So, let's talk about some of the viticultural details about Clos de l'Echo. The majority of the vineyard is on a steep, south-facing slope, except for 5 hectares a the northern edge which sits on a bit of a plateau sloping gently north. We're at one of the highest elevations in Chinon, about 95-98m above sea level. Because of the how open and exposed the vineyard is, it is subject to less mildew pressure from the breezes that move through the vineyard. In terms of soils, we are dealing with predominantly a type of hydromorphic clay that dates to the Senonian era, with the topsoil being quite stony, mixed with clay with some flint and quartz pebbles throughout. There is limestone bedrock below, which dates to the same period, but the main influence here is the clay.
So, as I mentioned, the vineyard itself is about 17 hectares. This wine is coming from a parcel of about 8 hectares that is on a full south-facing slope. The vines are on average about 50 years old, with some of the oldest vines being about 75 years old. Arnaud opts for longer hang-times, picking later to achieve full phenolic ripeness. The fruit is all hand-picked, destemmed, and fermentation takes place entirely in stainless steel using indigenous yeast. The wine undergoes a long post fermentation maceration of about 4 weeks, with some pigéage during that time. Arnaud prefers a shorter élevage in order to preserve the fruit character, so only about 12 months in stainless steel before bottling. Then the wine is aged in bottle typically for 2 to 3 years prior to release.
Key wine facts below:
Producer: Domaine Couly-Dutheil
Appellation: Chinon
Commune: Chinon
Lieu-Dit: Clos de l’Echo
Soil: Senonian-era clay with flint
Alcohol: 14.5%
