Catherine & Pierre Breton, 2018 Bourgueil ‘Clos Sénéchal’
Cab Franc du Jour #78
The Breton family lineage in Bourgueil stretches back five generations. The modern story of the estate begins in the mid-1980s when the family began vinifying their own grapes rather than selling fruit to the local cooperative, a very common practice in the region at the time. Organic viticulture followed in 1991 and biodynamics in 1994. Today the family farms vines in both Bourgueil and Vouvray, where Catherine’s family originates, and in Bourgueil they tend around 12 hectares of Cabernet Franc across parcels in three communes: Restigné, Benais, and Bourgueil.
The Clos Sénéchal is one of two top vins de terroir, or vins de garde, that the estate produces, the other being Les Perrières, a celebrated lieu-dit in the Bourgueil commune. Clos Sénéchal is located in Benais.
The Commune of Benais
The Bourgueil appellation can be broadly divided into three soil groupings. Closest to the Loire River are the recent alluvial sandy-silty soils. Further north, the ancient alluvial soils of the Restigné and Bourgueil communes are deep sandy-gravelly soils over a Lower Turonian tuffeau bedrock. Finally, the côte, the most northerly and elevated zone set furthest back from the Loire, is where the Turonian tuffeau chalk bedrock is found.
Benais is unique within the appellation in that it is the only commune situated exclusively on the côte, with no alluvial soils at all. All of its vineyards sit over either the Lower, Middle, or Upper Turonian tuffeau depending on elevation and location. The commune’s topography is quite varied, shaped by two significant geographical features: the Changeon River running north to south along the western border, separating Benais from the Bourgueil commune, and the Benais forest at the northeastern end.
These two features define the slope exposures across the commune. In the western part, the slopes face southwest toward the Changeon River. Moving east, the slopes follow a gentle arc, with full southern exposures in the centre of the commune transitioning to a slightly south-southeast orientation in the east. In terms of bedrock, elevation provides a reliable guide: from 30 to around 50m above sea level, the Lower Turonian tuffeau prevails; from around 50 to 70m, the Middle Turonian tuffeau; and above 70m at the northern edge of the commune, the Upper Turonian tuffeau. Each of these chalks has slightly different properties in terms of density, water-holding capacity, and mineral content, which ultimately influences the character of the wines grown above them.
Clos Sénéchal
Clos Sénéchal is a lieu-dit of approximately 8.5 hectares in the far eastern part of Benais, right on the border with the commune of Restigné, about 5km north of the Loire and 3km east of the Changeon. At that distance from both rivers, the moderating influence of either is limited. The lieu-dit occupies a gentle south-southeast-facing slope ranging in elevation from around 56 to 70m above sea level, with the Middle Turonian white tuffeau chalk as the bedrock throughout.
The vineyard is believed to have once been owned by the Comtesse Fitz-James, a noblewoman who served at the court of Marie Antoinette. Catherine and Pierre Breton hold approximately 1 hectare here, a parcel that has been in their family since 1892. Their vines are mid-slope, around 70 years of age, with approximately 30cm of predominantly clay topsoil over the tuffeau bedrock below.
In the Cellar
The fruit is hand-picked and fully destemmed before fermenting with indigenous yeast in large open-top wooden fermenters. The wine spends approximately three weeks on skins with very little pump-over or punchdown activity throughout. Aging takes place in foudre for around 18 months before bottling. The vineyard naturally yields on the lower side at around 35 hl/ha, and annual production of this cuvée is approximately 5,000 bottles.
Wine Details
Producer: Catherine & Pierre Breton
Appellation: Bourgueil
Commune: Benais
Lieux-Dits: Clos Sénéchal
Soils: 30cm predominantly clay topsoil over the middle Turonian tuffeau chalk bedrock
Alcohol: 14%