The Story of Stephane Family
Since 1875, the Vigneau-Chevreau family has farmed the chalky soils of this 33-acres Vouvray domaine, planted entirely to Chenin Blanc. Jean-Michel Vigneau began steering the family domaine in an organic direction in the early ‘90s and by 1995 Vigneau-Chevreau received its biodynamic certification from Ecocert. The Vigneau boys produce a textbook line-up of Vouvrays from their own vines and also controls the Clos de Rougemont of the historic Abbey of Marmoutier. One of the grandest churches in western Europe during medieval times, the Abbey hosted popes and kings. However, over the centuries, the abbey and its vineyard fell into disrepair, with the final blows being dealt by the French Revolution and the ravages of phylloxera. In the early 1990s, Vigneau-Chevreau was awarded vineyard rights to the Clos (for 50 years) in exchange for restoring it to its original grandeur.