Beyond Tuffeau: A brief overview of the other terroirs of the Paris Basin
No.44 | Terroir Talk
Let me start by saying that this post is incomplete - at least incomplete the way my perfectionist brain would like it to look. Perhaps incomplete isn’t the right word. Maybe a better way to think about this post is it is an opportunity for me to get some information/ideas out that have been swirling around in my head for months, and now they are “down on paper,” I can look to build on and evolve this foundation in the months and years to come as I gather more information through tastings and conversations with vignerons and other professionals in the world of wine and beyond.
I have wanted to talk about the Cabernet Franc terroirs of the Paris Basin1 beyond the Turonian tuffeau chalk for sometime now. While the Turonian tuffeau chalk dominates the most highly regarded vineyard sites across the appellations of Chinon, Bourgueil (and to a lesser extent St-Nicolas-de-Bourgueil,) Saumur-Champigny and Saumur, there are other terroirs/soils that are dotted across these appellations that I be…