Beyond the national domain of Chambord, where the general manager, Jean d’Haussonville, had 14 hectares of vines replanted in 2015, other castles in the region produce their wines. The stars Chenonceau and Cheverny, and others, less known, from Indre to Maine-et-Loire.
Castle of Valencay (Indre)
The castle and the town of the same name gave birth to the Valençay appellation, which covers an area of 2,400 hectares. Specificity of Valençay Indre, in addition to the AOC of wines, it also offers an appellation of cheese – the pyramid of Valençay –, a Berry goat. The wine is produced in part of the Indre and in a commune in the Loir-et-Cher. At the château itself, the vineyard extends over 165 hectares, with the main grape varieties Gamay, for the reds, and Sauvignon, for the whites.
Chenonceau Castle (Indre-et-Loire)
The vines and the cellar have always belonged to the most visited private chateau in France (800,000 visitors). The vinification of the 10 hectares is nevertheless entrusted to the Caves du Père Auguste, a few kilometers from Chenonceaux, in the village of Civray-de-Touraine. The traditional grape varieties are Chenin (white) and Cabernet Franc (red), to which Sauvignon and Côt, or Malbec, have been added. Two cuvées (white and red) are offered in the Touraine-Chenonceaux appellation, which extends over both banks of the Cher, the rest of the wines in the Touraine AOC.
Castle of Coudray-Montpensier (Indre-et-Loire)
The 34 hectares of vines of this château located in Seuilly, not far from Chinon, both old and new and planted around ten years ago, are located in the Chinon appellation area. Cabernet Franc is available in red and rosé. The wines are produced and sold by Vignobles Feray, which offer another Loire wine, with a château designation, even if it is rather a manor house, located in Noizay (Indre-et-Loire): the Château de Montfort, in Crémant-de-Loire, white and rosé.
Valmer Castle (Indre-et-Loire)
At the heart of the Vouvray appellation, the Château de Valmer wine estate, in Chançay, not far from Amboise, covers 35 hectares, six of which are planted within the historic grounds of the park, overlooking the Brenne valley. . The Chenin grape variety is available in four sparkling white wines: dry, semi-dry, sweet and brut Vouvrays.
Cheverny Castle (Loir-et-Cher)
It’s hard to miss the architecture of Cheverny, the inspiration behind Hergé’s Moulinsart. The Belgian artist couldn’t get a handle on the vines that grow a few hundred meters from a château that belongs to the Hurault de Vibraye family: the first half-hectare was planted in 2018. The first harvest, the year last, could not be done because of an episode of frost. The grapes (Sauvignon and Chardonnay) will give white Cheverny, vinified by the cooperative cellar of Mont-près-Chambord winegrowers.
Brissac Castle (Maine-et-Loire)
The 28 hectares of vines of a castle in the town of Brissac-Loire-Aubance, 15 kilometers from Angers, are cultivated by the Caves de la Loire, a cooperative which brings together 180 winegrowers. The cuvées, baptized “Château des Cossé”, named after the owner family since the beginning of the 16the century, are based on Chenin in white, and Cabernet Sauvignon and Grolleau in red. They come from multiple appellations: Anjou, Cabernet d’Anjou (exclusively in rosé), Crémant-de-Loire, Anjou-Villages-Brissac…
Castle of Montreuil-Bellay (Maine-et-Loire)
15 kilometers south of Saumur, the castle which mixes Renaissance and medieval military architecture houses 16 hectares of Cabernet Franc, Chenin and Chardonnay. We are here in the Saumur appellation, of course, and the vineyard offers several cuvées, in white as in red, without forgetting the bubbles with the essential Crémant-de-Loire.