CHÂTEAU DE COULAINE

– Chinon

Château de Coulaine is a seriously historic estate, dating back to the early 13th century. Amongst their 18ha are some significant holdings in Chinon’s most famous and important vineyards and the average age of the vines here is very high.  For many years the estate has employed a strict policy of ‘selection massale’ when replanting and they have been organic since 1997, the first in the appellation to achieve certification.  Owner Jean de Bonnaventure who took over from his father five years ago first caught our eye with his whites but of course it is for reds that Chinon is so rightly famous and Picasses, and the evocatively named Diablesse don’t take very long, each in their own distinct way, to explain why.