CHATEAU YVONNE
Matthieu Vallée
Château Yvonne sits in the village of Parnay in the appellation Saumur-Champigny. Surrounded by exceptional terroir and talented vignerons, Château Yvonne certainly does not sit alone, but Château Yvonne's story separates them from their neighbours.
Château Yvonne sits in the village of Parnay in the appellation Saumur-Champigny. Surrounded by exceptional terroir and talented vignerons, Château Yvonne certainly does not sit alone but it is the story of Château Yvonne which separates them from their neighbors.
The domain dates back to the 16th century, but it wasn’t until 1813 when the domain began producing wine. In 1997, Yvonne et Jean-François Lamunière decided to recreate the abandoned vineyard with Françoise Foucault's help of Clos Rougeard. Twenty years later, in 2007, Mathieu Vallée took over and decided to keep the name Château Yvonne in homage to the previous owners' incredible work. Mathieu has managed to improve the wines' quality by reducing the amount of new oak used and converting all farming to biodynamic. The vineyards have been farmed organically since 1997 and biodynamically since 2012.
Château Yvonne consists of 11 hectares spread over four villages (Parnay, Turquant, Montsoreau, Champigny) with 27 parcels. The domain has 3 hectares of Chenin Blanc and 8 hectares of Cabernet Franc. Of the domain's 8 hectares of Cabernet Franc, they have 3 parcels of over 70-year-old vines bordering the Loire River. Each of Chateau Yvonne's vineyards is farmed biodynamically, and all vineyard work is done manually.
Mathieu makes the wines with as little manipulation as possible in the cave. Only native yeasts are used, vinification happens without temperature control at the back of the domain's cool tuffeau cave, and there are no additions other than sulfur. Mathieu uses new and used oak barrels, foudres, Stockinger barrels, large tanks and concrete. He never buys secondhand or "used" oak. All wines are bottled unfined and unfiltered.
Château Yvonne consists of 11 hectares spread over four villages (Parnay, Turquant,Montsoreau, Champigny) with a total of 27 parcels. The domain has 3 hectares of Chenin Blanc and 8 hectares of Cabernet Franc. Of the domain's 8 hectares of Cabernet Franc, they have 3 parcels of over 70 year old vines bordering the Loire River. Each of Chateau Yvonne’s vineyards are farmed biodynamically and all vineyard work is done manually.
In the cave, Mathieu makes the wines with as little manipulation as possible. Only native yeasts are used, vinification happens without temperature control at the back of the domain's cool tuffeau cave, and there are no additions other than sulfur. Mathieu uses new and used oak barrels, foudres, Stockinger barrels, large tanks and concrete. He never buys secondhand or “used” oak. All wines are bottled unfined and unfiltered.
REGION OF PRODUCTION
Loire Valley - France
APPELLATION
Saumur
FOUNDED
1813
VINEYARD
11.5 ha
CLIMATE
Continental climate
SOIL COMPOSITION
Tuffeau
VARIETIES GROWN
Cabernet franc, Chenin
AGRICULTURE
Organic & Biodynamic