Description

A combination of old vines (dating to the ‘70s), a cool climate, and hard, limestone-rich soils contribute to the understated elegance of this wine. The soils have more limestone, and some old barriques are used in the élévage.

Mineral-driven, with slightly grippy tannins, we love this wine for its complexity and savoriness. It’s still easy-drinking, and there’s still plenty of joy, but if you want, you can stop and think about this one for a few moments before going back to glou glou.

Chateau Yvonne is an ancient vineyard site that had long laid abandoned before it was restored by Mathieu Vallée back in 1997. Clos Rougeard’s influence can be felt here, since it was Rougeard’s Françoise Foucault that helped with the restoration. The mission was to make serious, ageworthy Cabernet Franc and Chenin Blanc. At that, they have succeeded resoundingly. But it’s the more casual side of Château Yvonne that really intrigues us.

Full of finesse and freshness, La Folie has aromas of black fruits and a fleshy mouth with silky tannins and flavours of strawberry, raspberry and cherry.

Located in Parnay, Chateau Yvonne has been surrounded by vineyards since the middle ages, when the monks at the Abbaye de Fontevraud brought their influence to the region. The Chateau dates to the 16th century, but not much is known until 1813, when a local winemaker moved in and began producing wine on site. In 1997, Yvonne and Jean-François Lamunière decided to recreate the abandoned vineyard with the help of Françoise Foucault. In 2007, Matthieu Vallée took over and decided to keep the name Chateau Yvonne in hommage to the incredible work done by the previous owners. Today the domaine is one of the best producers in Saumur, composed of 3 hectares of Chenin Blanc and 8 hectares of Cabernet Franc, spread out over 28 small plots in three villages. The vineyards have been farmed organically (Ecocert certified) since 1997 and biodynamically since 2012. Yvonne’s production remains extremely low, averaging only 2000 cs annually. All vineyard work here is done manually, and Matthieu makes the wines with as little manipulation as possible: native yeast fermentation, no additions other than SO2, slow malolactic fermentation, minimal racking, and bottling unfined and unfiltered. The dominant soils here are limestone and tuffeau stone but outcroppings of gravel and sandy clay give completely different expressions of Cabernet Franc and Chenin Blanc.