One of the wineries we will visit when we spend 2 days in Sancerre during 2024 Loire Valley by ombiasy WineTours in June 2024 is Domaine Famille Bourgeois in Chavignol. On the pre-trip in February 2024, Annette and I already had the chance to meet Jean-Marie Bourgeois and Jean-Christoph Bourgeois.
See: Announcement: Loire Valley 2024 by ombiasy WineTours (Sunday, June 09 - Thursday June 20, 2024)
Domaine Famille Bourgeois
Domaine Famille Bourgeois: For 10 generations, we have offered our passion and values as winegrowers to develop Sauvignon Blancs and Pinot Noirs of great character. Each member of our family, Jean-Marie Bourgeois, Arnaud, Lionel and Jean-Christophe, bring their talent to the Domaine. Established in Chavignol, in the heart of the best terroirs of Sancerre and Pouilly-Fumé, we cultivate a mosaic of plots respecting our unique terroirs of Kimmeridgian Marl, Silex and Limestone Clays.
Annette Schiller: With determination and great commitment, the Domain Henri Bourgeois has placed itself at the top of the Sancerre region. The secret of the success are the gentle hills in the municipality of Chavignol. Here is the home of Sauvignon Blanc – you only find a few acres of Pinot Noir in this sea of Sauvignon Blanc. This family domain is one of the largest producers in the region with 176 acres of vineyards, mostly in the Sancerre appellation but they also farm some acres in the Pouilly-Fumé appellation. The domain sits right at the foot of one of the most prominent top vineyard site, the Côté des Monts Damnés in Chavignol.
We had a great conversation and tasting with Jean-Marie
Bourgeois and Jean-Christoph Bourgeois and I can only second what the
German importer Hawesko says: “The wines are a wonderful expression of
the unique characteristics of the Loire Valley. They combine freshness,
fruitiness, and minerality to create a harmonious taste experience. Each
wine tells its own story and bears the hallmark of the passion that
goes into winemaking at Henri Bourgeois.”
Wine Searcher: Henri Bourgeois is a leading Loire Valley producer based in the village of Chavignol in Sancerre and best known for its extensive range of regional wines, predominantly made from Sauvignon Blanc. The wider portfolio covers red, white and rosé wines from Sancerre, and also includes a pair of Pouilly-Fumé wines.
The estate was established in the 1960s with a few hectares in Chavignol. With his sons Rémi and Jean-Marie, the eponymous Henri Bourgeois extended this estate over numerous neighboring villages. In the 1980s a modern, eco-friendly cellar was constructed, later modernized into a gravity-fed facility.
Henri Bourgeois also owns and runs Clos Henri, an organically-farmed estate in Marlborough, New Zealand.
Along with the Sancerre wines (made from Sauvignon Blanc and Pinot Noir), Henri Bourgeois also produces Sauvignon Blanc wines from the nearby Menetou-Salon, Quincy and Côteaux du Giennois appellations. Pinot Noir from Menetou-Salon and a Pinot Noir – Gamay blend from Châteaumeillant are also made.
The range features a Cabernet Franc, Pinot Noir rosé and a Sauvignon Blanc under the IGP Val de Loire appellation.
Bourgeois now oversees around 72 hectares (178 acres) of vineyards split among 120 parcels. Vines are grown using organic fertilisers and the vineyards inter-rows are seeded for cover crops without weed killers. Individual parcels are picked by hand and sorted at the winery. The wines are matured on fine lees until bottling.
Jamie Goode: Henri Bourgeois is one of those producers that any wine region would be lucky to have. They combine size and quality, which is important, because it means there's a reasonable amount of wine to go round.
Things started small here: this family-owned domaine was founded with 2 hectares in 1935, plus some polyculture. Now it has 70 hectares of vines (64 in Sancerre and 6 in neighbouring Pouilly-Fume), plus a winery in New Zealand (Clos Henri, with 45 hectares in Marlborough). Overall, they harvest 124 plots, 100 of Sauvignon Blanc and 24 of Pinot Noir, and these are kept separate in the winery.
The winery, in the beautiful village of Chavignol, is modern, and has five different levels to enable gravity flow. It was built in 2000 and then some more capacity was added in 2013. Some parcels are machine harvested, while the steeper plots are harvested by hand.
Three years ago, Bourgeois tested machine versus hand-harvested fruit from one vineyard, taking thee rows from each and making the wine the same way. Eight out of ten tasters preferred the wine made from machine-harvested fruit, but they think the key is to get the grapes as quickly as possible from the vineyard to the winery when machines are used.
Arriving
Jean-Marie Bourgeois and Jean-Christoph Bourgeois
See: Announcement: Loire Valley 2024 by ombiasy WineTours (Sunday, June 09 - Thursday June 20, 2024)
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