Château Yvonne, 2020 Saumur-Champigny "La Folie"
Cab Franc du Jour #80
Château Yvonne has been in the hands of Mathieu Vallée since 2007, though the estate’s viticultural history stretches back to the 16th century. The modern story began in 1997 when the property was purchased by Jean-François and Yvonne Lamunière, who gave the estate its current name. Under the direction of Françoise Foucault, wife of Charly Foucault of Clos Rougeard, during the first decade of that ownership, the estate quickly established itself as a rising star in the appellation, with organic viticulture as a cornerstone of its philosophy. Mathieu has upheld that legacy and taken it further, completing a full conversion to biodynamics by 2012.
The estate comprises 16 hectares of vines, of which 10 hectares are Cabernet Franc, with parcels dotted across four neighbouring communes that hug the Loire River: from west to east, Souzay-Champigny, Parnay, Turquant, and Montsoreau. Today’s wine comes entirely from parcels in Souzay-Champigny: Les Mouchards, Les Chalognes, Les Gagneries, Le Vigneau, Clos Linthier, La Maisonnette, and La Noue, all located in the centre of the commune.
Souzay-Champigny and the Unique Geology Around Champigny
There are three main viticultural zones in the commune of Souzay-Champigny. Closest to the Loire River, a zone stretching about 1km sits at around 45 to 55m above sea level over a bedrock of Turonian tuffeau chalk. A second area at a similar elevation lies roughly 3.5km to the southwest, set back from the river, where the Turonian tuffeau reappears. But in the middle of the commune, around the hamlet of Champigny where these lieux-dits are found, the terroir picture is entirely different.
This central zone of vineyards stretches about 2km from north to south and sits on a large limestone bench or plateau at an elevation of 72 to 84m above sea level. The limestone here is not the Cretaceous-era Turonian tuffeau chalk found elsewhere in the commune, but rather an Eocene-era freshwater, or lacustrine, limestone formed approximately 36 to 55 million years ago, far younger in geological terms than the tuffeau which dates to 89 to 93 million years ago.
This freshwater limestone, known locally as “la pierre de Champigny,” is approximately 2m thick, exceptionally hard and dense, and highly resistant to erosion. Those same properties made it a prized building material for centuries: it was most notably identified as ideal for construction by engineer Louis-Alexandre de Cessart, who used it in the building of the Cessart bridge across the Loire River in Saumur.
From a viticultural perspective, this area around Champigny was recognized even earlier, most notably by the monks of the nearby Abbey de Fontevraud, who cultivated vines here during the Middle Ages and regarded the plateau highly for its drainage and low soil fertility, both of which are beneficial for quality viticulture. This small pocket carries a long and distinguished viticultural history tied directly to this very particular limestone.
The Vineyard
The wine is sourced from approximately 5 hectares across the seven lieux-dits listed above, with vines ranging in age from 15 to 50 years. The topsoil averages around 40 to 60cm in depth, predominantly clay in texture or clayey-silt with roughly 40% clay content. Mathieu explained that the combination of this freshwater limestone bedrock and the clay topsoil creates a cooler soil environment overall, which slows the growing season and allows for slightly longer hang time without excessive sugar accumulation, helping to preserve acidity while supporting greater phenolic ripeness of the skins and seeds, resulting in more pronounced tannins in the finished wine.
In the Cellar
For the 2020 vintage, approximately 20% of the fruit was left as whole cluster with the remainder destemmed. Fermentation takes place in 50hl concrete vats with approximately three weeks of skin contact. Élevage follows in large wooden conical vats for around eight months before bottling.
Wine Details
Producer: Château Yvonne
Appellation: Saumur-Champigny
Commune: Souzay-Champigny
Lieux-Dits: Les Mouchards, Les Chalognes, Les Gagneries, Le Vigneau, Clos Linthier, La Maisonnette, La Noue
Soil: 40-60cm of clay topsoil over a bedrock of lacustrine limestone
Alcohol: 13.5%