Château de Chamboureau wines

Château de Chamboureau is the final property encountered as one leaves the village of Epiré heading west towards Savennières. It sits on top of the plateau and is surrounded on three sides by its own vineyards. Wine has certainly been produced here for at least the last 400 years. The oldest part of this rustic looking manor is an octagonal tower which dates back to the 15th century. However, there have been various additions during its life, notably two lodges which were added in the 18th century by lawyer Robert Béguyer, owner of the neighbouring property of Champcourtois.

The domaine was bought in 1949 by Michel Soulez who ran it until 1978 when he passed the day to day running to his brother, Yves. Michel and his wife (an incredible woman by all accounts – she’s in her mid nineties now, but still drives herself around the village) had eleven children and it was one of five boys, Pierre-Yves, who took control from his uncle in 1982. It was during this period that Chamboureau began to expand, buying vines in Le Clos de Varennes and renting land in Le Clos du Papillon and La Roche aux Moines from Baron Brincard. Apart from making wine for Chamboureau itself, there was an agreement between the two parties that Soulez would also produce a generic Savennières and La Roche aux Moines under the Château de la Bizolière label; this arrangement lasted until as recently as 2006. After a period of financial uncertainty in the late 1980s, Pierre-Yves handed over control in 1991 to his brother, Pierre, who had just repatriated himself after a successful career as an agronomist in central Africa. Meanwhile, Pierre-Yves decided to buck the current trend and cross the Loire to buy Château de la Genaiserie in Saint-Aubin-de-Luigné, a property he held until selling up in 2003. Pierre himself was joined by his nephew, Hugues Daubercies in 2004. Daubercies had returned to the Loire following time working in Provence and immediately introduced an organic regime that will see Chamboureau being certified organic from the 2008 vintage.