Domaine Chancelle - Thierry & Lydie Chancelle
Our vineyard has been in the family for five generations: Thierry and Lydie have been running it since 2000. It overlooks the Loire and is located 9 kilometers east of Saumur and 3 kilometers from the Royal Abbey of Fontevraud.
The estate cultivates 14 hectares divided into 26 plots on clay-limestone hillsides.
The grape variety is 60% Cabernet Franc with which we produce Saumur Champigny (red wine), exclusively with the oldest vines. With the youngest vines we offer rosé wines, among others the Saumur Rosé.
The remaining 40% are planted with Chenin or Pineau de Loire, which are mainly available in Saumur blanc, Crémant de Loire, and when the weather conditions allow it, a Côteaux de Saumur, a sweet wine with a very long aging potential.
As far as the cultivation practices of the vine are concerned, the soil is worked on the cavaillon and we keep the natural grass cover on the row itself.
The protection of the vine is mainly done using Bordeaux mixture and sulphur.
The wines are all made from manual harvests.
The alcoholic and malolactic fermentations for Saumur Champigny take place in vats, then aging for 6 to 12 months takes place in tuns. Rosé wines are vinified only in vats. Those of white wines, such as white Saumur, are practiced in vats and casks for a period of 6 to 10 months, this breeding is done on lees with regular stirring without malolactic fermentation.
Soft vinifications, absence of filtrations and small doses of sulfur during bottling are carried out in the ancestral setting of our cellars in "tuffeau" typical of our Saumur region.
We practice in our profession in the respect of traditions, to the rhythm of nature and the climate without any indoctrination.
Our wines are certainly a representation of the claimed appellations, but also an expression of ourselves.