Domaine de la Chaise

At A Glance

Field: Detail
Region: Loire Valley
Appellations: AOC Touraine, AOC Touraine Chenonceaux, AOC Rosé de Loire, Fines Bulles de Touraine
Village: Saint-Georges-sur-Cher
Main grapes: Chenin Blanc and Sauvignon Blanc
Named wine: L'Originelle Chenin Blanc
Defining feature: 60 hectares of vines on tuffeau limestone and clay with flint

The Producer

Monks planted vines on the former priory grounds during the 10th century. Domaine de la Chaise traces its winemaking heritage through seven successive generations from 1850, and Christophe Davault has led the estate since 2004.

The domaine is currently located in Saint-Georges-sur-Cher and produces wines under AOC Touraine and related Loire appellations. Its range includes Chenin Blanc, Sauvignon Blanc, red, rosé and sparkling wines. The estate's present work joins a long family succession with a broad vineyard and several wine styles.

Place

Saint-Georges-sur-Cher places the domaine within Touraine, where the labels cover both AOC Touraine and the more specific AOC Touraine Chenonceaux. AOC Rosé de Loire adds a rosé category, while Fines Bulles de Touraine identifies the sparkling wines.

The appellation names divide the range by wine category and place. Touraine carries the estate's still wines across white, red and rosé styles, Touraine Chenonceaux gives a separate appellation for white and red wines, and Fines Bulles de Touraine marks the sparkling production.

Soil And Site

The vines grow on middle Turonian tuffeau limestone and on clay with flint deposits. Tuffeau is a porous limestone that allows water to drain, while clay holds moisture around the roots. Flint is a hard stone mixed through the clay, adding another physical difference between the vineyard soils.

These ground types alter water availability during the growing season. Limestone sites tend to drain more freely, while clay can retain moisture for the vines. The estate's wines come from this combination of limestone and clay soils rather than from one uniform ground type.

Story

Christophe Davault took up his position at the domaine in 2004, within a family line that includes Eugène, Maurice, Jean-Pierre, Christophe and Quentin. The vineyard had already been reshaped by 45 hectares purchased or replanted from 1980 onward.

That expansion changed the scale of the estate's work. The family succession continued while new vineyard land was added through purchase and replanting, leaving the current domaine with a broad base for its Touraine whites, reds, rosés and sparkling wines.

Vineyards And Cellar

The vines are planted at a density of 5,600 plants per hectare. Higher density places more vines across the same area and changes how each vine shares water and nutrients in the soil.

A 750 square metre insulated chai was completed in 2009 to preserve wine quality. Insulation helps reduce temperature variation during storage, protecting the wines as they move through the cellar.

Wines

Domaine de la Chaise makes still white, red and rosé wines, along with sparkling Fines Bulles de Touraine. The appellation range includes AOC Touraine, AOC Touraine Chenonceaux and AOC Rosé de Loire.

The white wines include L'Originelle Chenin Blanc and Touraine Sauvignon Blanc. L'Originelle keeps Chenin Blanc at the centre of the bottle, while Touraine Sauvignon Blanc gives Sauvignon Blanc its own place in the range. Touraine Chenonceaux adds another appellation level to the still wine selection.

In The Glass

L'Originelle Chenin Blanc is bright light yellow, with exotic fruit and white fruit aromas. The palate has a round attack, good volume and well balanced acidity, finishing with long aromatic persistence and complexity.

Touraine Chenonceaux Blanc brings pineapple, passion fruit and lemongrass on the nose. Its palate is rich but lively, with a touch of guava bitterness and a mineral twist.

Touraine Sauvignon Blanc shows a golden yellow colour and aromas of exotic fruit and citrus. The palate is immediately round and warm, combining minerality with white fleshed fruit, tropical fruit and citrus.

A Bottle To Understand It

Choose L'Originelle Chenin Blanc. It is the named Chenin Blanc bottle in the AOC Touraine range, separate from Touraine Sauvignon Blanc and from the estate's red, rosé and sparkling categories.

The bottle keeps the first comparison on one grape and one still white appellation. It also places Chenin Blanc beside the estate's other white wine path, Sauvignon Blanc, without bringing the different colours and sparkling style into the same starting point.

Anecdote

In 1899, Alexis Davault acquired a portion of the Prieuré de la Chaise vineyard. The former priory grounds had been planted with vines by monks during the 10th century. Alexis Davault's purchase connected the Davault name with part of a vineyard whose history reached back several centuries. The transaction was specific: he bought a portion of the existing vineyard, not the whole site. That portion became part of the Davault estate and remains the dated link between the family and the Prieuré de la Chaise grounds.

Final Word

Domaine de la Chaise is a Saint-Georges-sur-Cher domaine with seven generations of winemaking heritage, tuffeau limestone and clay with flint soils, and a range that moves from Chenin Blanc and Sauvignon Blanc to red, rosé and sparkling wines.

At A Glance

The Producer

Place

Soil And Site

Story

Vineyards And Cellar

Wines

In The Glass

A Bottle To Understand It

Anecdote

Final Word

Sources

Where to go next