Domaine Chéreau Carré, Loire, France

In 1953 in the fertile lands of Muscadet, Bernard Chéreau marries Edmonde Carré and the House Chéreau-Carré was born and is the beginning of a passionate family story that, to date, spans three generations.

Bernard Chéreau Senior took a huge gamble to buy the Château de Chasseloir estate where a few hundred-year-old vines rub shoulders with horses, cattle and crops. Bernard’s ambition was to create a unique Muscadet, a wine capable of competing with the greatest Grands Crus.

Turning his back on his medical studies to join his father on the estate, son Bernard Chéreau Junior is driven by the love of the Muscadet land and eager to make the Muscadet Sèvre et-Maine, a wine loved both in its native France and around the world. Together they would become pioneers of ‘bottle-aged’ Muscadet, a technique which improves the wine with longer time in the cellar.

Louise Chéreau is the third generation of the family involved in House Chéreau-Carré, and a strong character pushes the House to constantly renew itself, exploring new grounds to bring these wonderful Muscadet to a wider audience.

The Château de Chasseloir, located on the ancient ‘marches’ or borderlands between Brittany and France, boasts a long heritage including a 15th Century barrel cellar. The original château was destroyed during the French Revolution and never re-built.

The Chasseloir farm was purchased in 1953 by Bernard Chéreau. At that time of being purchased by Bernard Chéreau Senior, the vines shared the farm with fields of cereals, horses and cattle before Bernard planted more vines and began production of Muscadet Sèvre et Maine sur Lie.

Just three wines are produced from the 25 hectares of vines at Château de Chasseloir, some which are well-over 100-years old and the oldest vines in Muscadet. These old vines produce fewer grapes than younger stock, but with much more concentrated flavour. Harvesting is done exclusively by hand to avoid breaking the fragile plants.

The vines are planted on the south-facing hillsides of the River Maine, which has excellent drainage and a southern exposure conducive to perfect ripening of the grapes.

The soil is made of a flat, grey slate-like stone commonly found in the region which provide excellent drainage with the vine roots digging deep down to find the water and minerals they need.

The Muscadet appellation is planted with only Melon de Bourgogne, a grape variety brought to the Nantes area by monks from Burgundy in the 19th century. After a harsh winter in the area, the wine growers had to plant a new variety that would withstand the cold and this variety was obtained by crossing Pinot Blanc with Gouais Blanc.

www.chereau-carre.co.uk

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