BOURGUEIL DPO ROUGE DOMAINE DU ROCHOUARD

In 1967, Guy and Anne-Marie Duveau began farming their land in a mixed farming system. In addition to a few acres of vines in Bourgueil, they grow asparagus, green beans, cereals and tobacco…
From 1967 onwards, Guy and Anne-Marie were fully-fledged winegrowers, working the vines, making the wine, ageing it and marketing the wines they produced.
From 1976 onwards, the area under vines began to increase to the detriment of other crops. This will continue to increase until it reaches 22 hectares in the Bourgueil, St Nicolas de Bourgueil and IGP appellations for the whites.
In 1995 Guy went into partnership with Dominique (his son) and founded the Gaec Duveau Coulon fils. They chose “Domaine du Rochouard” as their name; the name of the emblematic and historic parcel of the house located near Bourgueil Abbey, the cradle of winegrowing in the Bourgueil area.
It was in 1995 that the concept of plot selection This led to the creation of the cuvées “Pierre du Lane” in St Nicolas de Bourgueil and “Le Coteau” in Bourgueil and, a few years later, “Argiles à Silex”, a cuvée of old vines grown on the clay of St Nicolas.
Dominique is moving more and more towards integrated farming (fewer pesticides, no more insecticides and a sharp reduction in the use of chemical weedkillers).
Since 2007, Guy has handed over to Jean-Luc (due to retirement). Together with Dominique (his brother), they brought the estate into the world of Organic Farming (stopping chemical weeding in 2010), starting the AB conversion in 2012 and, after three years, obtaining the AB label
in 2015.In 2010, the first “atypical” cuvée was created, the full cuvée “R”, followed 5 years later by a natural cuvée “les Onze Boisselées”.
Attracted by the production of white wine, in spring 2019 we were able to plant a parcel ofChenin (a grape variety emblematic of the Loire Valley), which will go into production in 2021.