schiller-wine: Tasting and Cellar Tour at Domaine Delaporte in Chavignol with Matthieu Delaporte

The Loire Tour 2025 by ombiasy WineTours took place from Sunday, October 5 to Thursday, October 16, 2025. The tour started in Nantes and ended in Sancerre, with a bus transfer and lunch in Paris. There were 9 of us including Annette and myself.

Following:

Extensive Cellar Tour and Extensive Tasting at Domaine Alphonse Mellot in Sancerre, with Alphonse Mellot - Loire Valley 2025 by ombiasy WineTours

we drove to Chavignol to visit Domaine Delaporte, which is located right in the middle of Chavignol. Matthieu Delaporte joined us for part of the visit, which included a tasting and a tour of the wine cellar.

Domaine Delaporte wines are imported in the USA by Vineyard Brands.

Loire 2025 by ombiasy WineTours led by Annette Schiller

Annette Schiller in her announcement: What comes to your mind when you hear ‘Loire Valley’? Of course images of glorious Châteaux pop up in your mind. Yes that is true and we will visit some iconic château and dig deep into France’s history. However, during this wine tour we also discover a magnificent, but often overlooked French wine region and one of the most exciting best kept secrets of excellent, high quality wines at very reasonable prices. The Loire Valley wine region is a vast area and consists of several distinct wine regions, each with its own characteristic grapes, appellations, and wine style. We take you on a journey from the Atlantic Ocean to the Auvergne mountains to explore this unique region. We learn to appreciate “Sancerre”, "Pouilly-Fumé", “Vouvray", “Chinon”, as well as many other not so familiar appellations.

Domaine Delaporte in Chavignol

The domaine is located in the heart of the Sancerre region, in the small hamlet of Chavignol.

Domaine Delaporte is a family winery which has been passed from father to son since the 17th century. Today, it is Matthieu Delaporte, who manages the estate. He has undertaken major measures to improve the wine quality: tillage without herbicides, reduced yields and vinification in barrels. From 2020, the estate has embarked on the conversion process to organic farming. With fifty different plots, the terroir of the domain is diverse, from silex to the limestone and kimmeridgian loam soils. The white Sancerre Chavignol from Domaine Delaporte is a Sauvignon Blanc whose vines are 35 years old and grow on south facing slopes ensuring ripe, mature grapes. The most prominent vineyard site in Chavignol is the “Côté des Monts Damnés (The Damned Mountain)” a plot with quite steep and rugged slopes. The Delaporte family is the only producer in the region to produce a Pinot Noir from the walled clos - Cul de Beaujeu, on the famous Monts Damnés hillside.

pascalinelepeltier

On Wednesday, March 26th of March, we are delighted to welcome to @chambers.nyc one of the brightest talents of Sancerre, Matthieu Delaporte. Delaporte may not be a name you are familiar with, but it is just a matter of time : since the estate has been in the extremely capable hands of Matthieu who came back in 2010, it is part of the best producers of the region without a doubt. Located in the very heart of the appellation, the hamlet of Chavignon, Domaine Delaporte owns plots in the most famous vineyards of the region : Les Monts Damnés et le Cul de Beaujeu. When Matthieu took over, his priority was a careful evolution in the farming to become truly sustainable, and to be more hands-off in the cellar, including big work done on quality of pressing, spontaneous fermentations, lower amount of sulfur, increase of aging time, diversification of aging vessel, etc. The results are evidently visible today, both for the white and red cuvées, in the terroir definition and the delicacy of details.

Arriving