Château de Coulaine, 2020 Chinon
Cab Franc du Jour #90
Château de Coulaine is one of the most historic estates in the Chinon appellation, with a history that can be traced back to 1470 and ownership that has remained in the de Bonnaventure family’s hands throughout. The château itself was constructed in 1470, and the family’s archives document grape growing and winemaking on the property since at least 1430.
Since 2017, Jean de Bonnaventure and his wife Tatiana have continued the work that Jean’s grandfather began in the 1930s and that his parents carried forward through the 1980s. Today they farm 19.5 hectares of vines, 16 of which are Cabernet Franc, predominantly in the commune of Beaumont-en-Véron with some parcels in the commune of Thizay on the south side of the Vienne River. The vineyards have been farmed organically since 1994 and certified since 1997.
Today’s wine is one of the estate’s early-drinking cuvées, sourced from 8 hectares across several parcels in Beaumont-en-Véron, and represents the largest portion of their production.
Beaumont-en-Véron
Two broad terroir types define Beaumont-en-Véron: alluvial soils and tuffeau chalk-derived soils. The alluvial soils are of two distinct origins found in two different locations. At lower elevations of around 35m above sea level, close to the Vienne River, we find ancient river-derived alluvial soils of sandy-silt with gravels. At higher elevations, on plateaus at around 70 to 75m above sea level, deep wind-deposited aeolian sands take over. Between these two zones, at elevations of roughly 50 to 60m above sea level, the tuffeau-derived soils appear, with both Upper and Middle Turonian tuffeau present depending on the specific lieu-dit and parcel.
The Vineyard
This cuvée is sourced from approximately 8 hectares across several lieux-dits, all on the tuffeau-derived soils. Around 50% of the parcels are on a soil type known locally as millarges, a very light, crumbly, yellow limestone sand derived from the Upper Turonian yellow tuffeau. Pockets of millarges are found across several communes in the Chinon appellation, and this soil type may in fact be unique to Chinon. These limestone-derived sands differ from alluvial sands in several meaningful ways: they are of marine rather than river origin, tend to be shallower, are less fertile, and have better water-holding capacity owing to their proximity to the tuffeau bedrock. Parcel orientations and topsoil depths vary across the selection, ranging from as little as 30cm to as much as 1.5m, but the common thread linking all the parcels is their sandier character over a bedrock of Upper Turonian yellow tuffeau, with millarges making up the majority of the soil in most of the parcels. The vines average around 25 to 30 years of age.
In the Cellar
All fruit is hand-harvested, fully destemmed, and left as whole berries. Fermentation takes place on the cooler side at around 20C with indigenous yeast in 60hl conical wooden vats and 50hl concrete vats. The wine spends approximately three to four weeks on skins, with some light pump-overs to homogenise the must during the first third of fermentation, after which maceration continues by infusion for the remainder. The finished cuvée is a combination of free-run and press wine, aged separately before being reassembled. Élevage takes place in a combination of concrete tanks and older 10-year-old oak foudres for approximately six to nine months, followed by a light filtration before bottling.
Wine Details
Producer: Château de Coulaine
Appellation: Chinon
Commune: Beaumont-en-Véron
Lieu-Dit: Clos de Coulaine, Coulaine, La Garenne de Coulaine, La Fosse des Hauts Brancs, Les Baffés, Les Mouches aux Veaux
Soil: 50% of parcels are planted on millarge (yellow limestone sands), sands and silts over the Upper Turonian yellow tuffeau bedrock
Alcohol: 13.0%