Domaine Charles Joguet
The separate vinification of different parcels is almost self-evident nowadays, but it has not always been this way. Especially around Chinon "the garden of France" in the Loire: regardless of the age of the vines or the terroir, the winemakers processed the grapes from all plots together into wine.
When, in 1957, after the death of his father, young Charles Joguet partially shifts his career as a talented painter and sculptor in Paris to a life as a winemaker, a challenge awaits him. At that time, the land of the domain has been used for wine growing for centuries, but other crops are also part of the source of income. The family domain does not yet bottle itself and in the vinification there is no difference according to the origin of the plot.
Charles Joguet makes the first wines without knowledge. In 1963, the much-needed turnaround came thanks to the help of winemaker and Father Taffonneau. Charles becomes inspired and thoroughly immerses himself in wine making.
Wine making
Joguet is inspired by winemakers in Burgundy and invents a new way of winemaking on his domain. He uses steel tanks for the fermentation and uses old Bordeaux barrels for the maturation of his Loire grapes. He realizes that his estate consists of different types of soil that have already been described separately in the Middle Ages and starts processing and harvesting wine from gravel, clay and limestone separately. He harvests the wine from young and older vines separately for each plot. In the vineyard he harvests manually and, among other things, reduces the vulnerability to rain by stacking the uncrushed grapes in small openwork crates.
For those who have never tasted it: grapes from grafted vines on American rootstocks and non-grafted European vines give a different taste, even if they are the same type of grape on the same plot. The European stick gives more aromatic wine. On a strip of his land, Joguet grows wine on non-grafted sticks as an experiment. Unfortunately, in 2008 these fall prey to the phylloxera.
From someone who knows nothing about winemaking, he develops into a forerunner in the Loire. Joguet delivers masterpieces and contributes to the greater brand awareness of wine around Chinon.
Succession Joguet: the Genet family
Charles Joguet is successful but has no succession in the family. In 1985, the Genet family joins the company and in 1997, after working on the estate for fourty years, Joguet can once again fully devote himself to his main passions: painting and sculpture. He transfers his domain step by step to his accountant Jacques Genet, who in 2006 transfers it to daughter Anne-Charlotte Genet.
Anne-Charlotte has her own vision on the development of the domain. With the support of winemaker Kevin Fontaine, who has been making wine for the Genet family for some time, she makes the switch to organic viticulture in which the minimization of human influence on the vineyard is central. According to Genet, greater biodiversity ensures a greater diversity of flora, and thus enhances the already present aromatic characteristics of the terroir. The market reacts enthusiastically.
At the auction
There is a consensus among wine enthusiasts and wine journalists that this approach is especially fantastic in the Varennes du Grand Clos Franc de Pied (the 2006 vintage in lot 2301). The grapes for this wine come from pre-phylloxera vines, which have been providing high quality Cabernet Franc for over 70 years.
The Clos de la Dioterie (lots 2302 to 2304, 2309, 2310 to 2312) and the Clos du Chêne Vert (Lot 2308) are, according to most reviews, among the masterpieces of Domaine Joguet year after year.
When, in 1957, after the death of his father, young Charles Joguet partially shifts his career as a talented painter and sculptor in Paris to a life as a winemaker, a challenge awaits him. At that time, the land of the domain has been used for wine growing for centuries, but other crops are also part of the source of income. The family domain does not yet bottle itself and in the vinification there is no difference according to the origin of the plot.
Charles Joguet makes the first wines without knowledge. In 1963, the much-needed turnaround came thanks to the help of winemaker and Father Taffonneau. Charles becomes inspired and thoroughly immerses himself in wine making.
Wine making
Joguet is inspired by winemakers in Burgundy and invents a new way of winemaking on his domain. He uses steel tanks for the fermentation and uses old Bordeaux barrels for the maturation of his Loire grapes. He realizes that his estate consists of different types of soil that have already been described separately in the Middle Ages and starts processing and harvesting wine from gravel, clay and limestone separately. He harvests the wine from young and older vines separately for each plot. In the vineyard he harvests manually and, among other things, reduces the vulnerability to rain by stacking the uncrushed grapes in small openwork crates.
For those who have never tasted it: grapes from grafted vines on American rootstocks and non-grafted European vines give a different taste, even if they are the same type of grape on the same plot. The European stick gives more aromatic wine. On a strip of his land, Joguet grows wine on non-grafted sticks as an experiment. Unfortunately, in 2008 these fall prey to the phylloxera.
From someone who knows nothing about winemaking, he develops into a forerunner in the Loire. Joguet delivers masterpieces and contributes to the greater brand awareness of wine around Chinon.
Succession Joguet: the Genet family
Charles Joguet is successful but has no succession in the family. In 1985, the Genet family joins the company and in 1997, after working on the estate for fourty years, Joguet can once again fully devote himself to his main passions: painting and sculpture. He transfers his domain step by step to his accountant Jacques Genet, who in 2006 transfers it to daughter Anne-Charlotte Genet.
Anne-Charlotte has her own vision on the development of the domain. With the support of winemaker Kevin Fontaine, who has been making wine for the Genet family for some time, she makes the switch to organic viticulture in which the minimization of human influence on the vineyard is central. According to Genet, greater biodiversity ensures a greater diversity of flora, and thus enhances the already present aromatic characteristics of the terroir. The market reacts enthusiastically.
At the auction
There is a consensus among wine enthusiasts and wine journalists that this approach is especially fantastic in the Varennes du Grand Clos Franc de Pied (the 2006 vintage in lot 2301). The grapes for this wine come from pre-phylloxera vines, which have been providing high quality Cabernet Franc for over 70 years.
The Clos de la Dioterie (lots 2302 to 2304, 2309, 2310 to 2312) and the Clos du Chêne Vert (Lot 2308) are, according to most reviews, among the masterpieces of Domaine Joguet year after year.