Château de Coulaine Touraine Blanc Les Pieds Rotis 2012

Pieds Rotis is the old original name of the vineyard across the road from the Chateau which was originally AOC Touraine, but since 2015 has been upgraded to AOC Chinon. The vineyard is south facing and soils are strongly calcareous overlaid with rich clay.

'This cuvée will have the Chinon appellation from 2016, says Pascale. A clay and limestone terroir. A very fine, smoky, minerally nose, with a matchsticky, flinty reductive note to it. The palate is beautifully textured, with a precise, lightly desiccated fruit concentration, and a good grip and backbone too it from the limestone. Tense, but also generous, with great depth in the finish. Excellent.' 94 points, Chris Kissack, thewinedoctor.com, February 2015.

Château de Coulaine is a family-owned estate rich in viticultural tradition which has been operating continuously since 1300!  In the 19th century the estate came to be one of the most notable in Chinon before phylloxera reduced the holdings to just over 1 hectare of Clos de Turpenay. Since 1988, Etienne de Bonnaventure took over the farming of that 1 hectare assuming all viticulture and winemaking responsibilities and has grown the estate to its current 18 hectares, all situated on Chinon's plateaux. Planted mostly to Cabernet Franc (with a little Chenin blanc making both Chinon blanc and Touraine blanc) particular care is taken to re-plant using selection massale as they have done for generations.

The  vineyards are organically farmed since 1997, being the first in the appellation to be certified organic, all grapes are hand-harvested and vinification follows a non-interventionalist path.  Coulaine's low yields result in deeply concentrated, savoury and succulent expressions of Cabernet Franc with ripe and polished tannins - a harmonious balance between the traditional and modern worlds. We adore Cabernet Franc and it is easy to see that Etienne has made every effort in the vineyard and the cellars to ensure that these are simply some of the purest and most deliciously approachable examples you will ever come across!