Our region : Loire Valley, Touraine, Cher Valley,…
We are fortunate to live in a region rich in History and flavors !
Moreover, since November 30, 2000, the Loire Valley Valley is listed as a World Heritage Site by UNESCO, under the Cultural Landscapes.

On this page you will find ideas, tips and places to make the most of your stay in the Cher Valley, or to find a good excuse to come back!

Useful websites
Pouillé : 
Pouillé city hall www.mairie-pouille-loiretcher.fr

Pouillé and its canton (district)
St Aignan tourist office www.tourisme-valdecher-staignan.com


Pouillé and its département (county):
Loir-et-Cher tourist office www.coeur-val-de-loire.com

Pouillé and its neighbours !
Office du tourisme de l’Indre-et-Loire www.touraineloirevalley.com

What to see

No doubt, when you hear “Loire Valley”, you think “castles, Châteaux, Kings and Queens,…”. Below you will find a long-but-not-exhaustive list of nice ones, right by our Domaine !

Are located in a radius of 30km or so :

Chenonceau, Cheverny, Montpoupon, Valençay, Amboise,

Are located in a radius of 50km or so :

Chambord, Chaumont sur Loire, Blois, Tours, Villandry

What to do
We are lucky enough to be located 10 km from the ZooParc Beauval, ranked among the 15 most beautiful zoos in the world! www.zoobeauval.com
For the pleasure of both grownups and kids, plan to stay the entire day to enjoy it to its fair value.

For chocolate lovers in particular, but I guess for every gourmet in general, the chocolate factory Max Vauché offers very interesting tour and tastings. www.maxvauche-chocolatier.com

The “Caves Champignonnières des Roches” (mushroom underground caves) : Discover the fascinating world of mushrooms farming, 50 meters under the ground and come back home, with, why not, a basket of mushrooms for diner !
(Paris mushrooms, oyster mushrooms, Feet Blues, Shii-Také)
Guided tour from Easter till Mid November and during school holidays by appointment www.le-champignon.com

As you can see, there is plenty to do!
Don’t forget also that, with its gentle landscape, mild climate and preserved natural areas, Touraine is the ideal destination for those who enjoy cycling tours. You will find trails or paths by the sides of both river Cher and Loire.
You prefer to be on the water? Well,  try the canoe !
Another way to discover the Chateaux de la Loire, a little more poetic if we can say, is a hot air balloon flight. Early morning for the sunrise or and the end of the day for sunset, nice souvenirs guaranteed !
Don’t hesitate also to walk around and explore local city centers and churches of surrounding villages like St Aignan, Montrichard or Loches.

Have fun !

Good places to eat

La Vieille Tour, in Cellettes : a modern cuisine made of seasonal and regional products for a quite short menu which changes regularly. (1 Toque Gault et Millau 2014 )
www.restaurant-la-vieille-tour-blois.com

Le Bacchus, in St Aignan : « Resto bistrot », simple and tasty dishes !
www.restaurantlebacchus.com

Try also, a charming restaurant in St Aignan, the “Mange grenouille” (www.lemangegrenouille.fr) or, more original, eat in caves carved into the rock at “Le Bousquet”, in Pouillé. (www.le-bousquet.com)

"Produits du Terroirs"
To enjoy during your stay or to bring a little piece of us back home:

Boucherie / charcuterie : David AUDAS, ( a nice independent bucther shop)
43 rue Paul Boncour, 41110 St Aignan . Tel : 02 54 75 00 55
My weakness : les mini rillons ! (There’s no translation for it. Basically, it’s just delicious pork preparation. My advice : enter the shop, ask for it and try it yoursef !)

Bakery: Thierry ROBERT,
13 route de Thésée, 41110 Pouillé, Tel : 02 54 71 08 33
My weakness : the multigrain baguette ! (la baguette de céréales !)

Goat cheeses: Ferme de la Vallée, Michel TREFOUX,
280 Chemin de la Vallée, 41700 Couddes, Tel : 02 54 71 34 98
My weakness : the semi dry goat cheese AOP Selles sur Cher ! (le Selles sur Cher demi-sec !)

Ateliers de curiosités fromagères / cheeses shop:
6 place du Président Wilson, 41110 St Aignan, Tel : 02 54 32 73 69
My weakness : The cheese plates to offer: prepared in a nice basket, with dry fruits, jam, crackers,… a tasty and original always appreciated gift!

For any other regional and seasonal products (like white asparagus, strawberries,…), don’t hesitate to walk around at the local outside market !
Friday morning : Montrichard
Saturday morning : St Aignan
Sunday morning : Noyers sur Cher

Our domaine is, above all, a family estate.

Ludivine and Rodolphe, brother and sister, work both full-time (and even more!) on the Domaine. Rodolphe manages the vineyard and the winemaking, Ludivine manages the marketing, paperwork and orders preparation. We are very complementary. We are helped in these tasks by three full-time employees so we can say that this is really a team work !

The Terroir

The vines are planted on some of the finest sites in Touraine, on the South bank of the river Cher, on siliceous-argil (clay and flint) soil.
(There is not an exact word or translation in English for the word Terroir. Just know that the terroir is actually a “mix” of the soil, the slope and the microclimate of a piece of land. The location from the river, the air circulation, everything matters and is part of the Terroir. )

Over the years, we expanded the surface of production to now reach 29 hectares, including, for the main grape varieties, 20 hectares of Sauvignon Blanc and 4.5 hectares of Gamay. To match the demand and for the past ten years, we had to pull out some of the red vines and replace them with a white vine: the Sauvignon Blanc. The Terroir of the river Cher Valley, is one of the best Terroir for Sauvignon Blanc where it thrives perfectly and we are proud to say that our Touraine Sauvignon Blanc is very much enjoyed in France as well as outside our borders !

On the contrary, what didn’t change is our way to produce and handle the vineyard. We are constantly striving to improve the quality of our grapes through short-cane pruning, strong spring de-budding, de-leafing, low yields and green harvesting methods.

"Sexual confusion"

Since Spring 2011, in a concern of environmental protection, we have put in place, on almost all of the vineyard, hormones diffusion capsules, a system called "sexual confusion".

To make it short and simple, the principle is to prevent males butterflies from finding females and thus to fertilize. De facto, there is no spawn and so no egg nor larva. The larvae usually like to eat grapes by biting them. This wound is then an open door to diseases such as Botrytis (grey rot), especially in case of humid weather.

This method allows us to significantly reduce, or even avoid, the use of insecticides and thus fits into the steps of the “Grenelle de l’environment”. Moreover, it is used in organic farming.

The winery

After some anecdotes on our methods of production in the vineyard, you will find below some details on our work in the cellar.

We use a pneumatic press for a low pressure better controlled extraction of the juice. It also allows us to make skin macerations. This is a natural way to bring the acidity down and give more flavor, more body to the juice by letting macerate grapes and juice together, for several hours inside the press. We close the drains placed in one end of the press to keep the juice inside.

After filling up the press, we need to make sure that the air is saturated in oxygen to avoid any oxidation of the juice. In order to do so, we add some dry ice (basically, CO² ice cubed) while filling up and before closing the doors of the press.

The winery is mainly stainless steel : better way to work, regarding quality and hygiene. All tanks are temperature-controlled, each of them being managed through a control panel. So, of course, the quality of grapes and wine is important but the quality of the wine storage (using the control of temperatures at all time) is just as much!

Finally, the bottling. We do it, throughout the year, depending on the needs. We are fortunate to own, actually co-owned with one of our colleagues, our own bottling machine which allows us to manage our needs better.

First of all, we wouldn’t have enough space to store one year production in bottles. Second of all, that way we choose to keep the wine on lees as long as possible, so it keeps evolving, gets more body, more richness. So it's better that way!

Joint ownership enables to have more efficient and more modern equipments. And it’s also a good way to share tips and techniques !