Menu Pineau

Thierry and Jean-Marie Puzelat enjoy making wine, which is a good thing as they produce a lot of them, sometimes close to 30 different cuvées a year. They feel so many of their parcels offer something unique worth exploring in its own right. Some of their cuvées are made from rare local varieties on the verge of extinction such as Romarantin, Grolleau and Menu Pineau (a natural mutation of Chenin Blanc). Wines made from these grapes rarely gain AOC recognition and so are labelled Vin De France, one of the biggest disappointments of modern winemaking laws.

Vigneron Christophe Foucher of La Lunotte never anticipated a wine career. He used to lend a hand from time to time in the vineyards belonging to his father in law on the South bank of the Cher River. After some years he quit his teaching job and enrolled himself to a school in Amboise to learn (and later unlearn!) the basics of classic vinification. Today he owns and rents a total of 5.5 ha across 7 plots in Touraine. Sauvignon Blanc accounts for 50% of plantings with some Menu Pineau, Gamay (including the dark skinned 'Gamay Bouze'), Côt and Cabernet Franc.