Wines
Summary
Located in Parnay, Chateau Yvonne has been surrounded by vineyards since the middle ages, when the monks at the Abbaye de Fontevraud brought their influence to the region. The Chateau dates to the 16th century, but not much is known until 1813, when a local winemaker moved in and began producing wine on site.
In 1997, Yvonne and Jean-François Lamunière decided to recreate the abandoned vineyard with the help of Françoise Foucault. Then in 2007, Mathieu Vallée took over and decided to keep the name Chateau Yvonne in hommage to the incredible work done by the previous owners.
Today the domaine is one of the best producers in Saumur, composed of 3 hectares of Chenin Blanc and 8 hectares of Cabernet Franc, spread out over 28 small plots in three villages. The vineyards have been farmed organically (Ecocert certified) since 1997 and biodynamically since 2012. Yvonne’s production remains extremely low, averaging only 2000 cs annually. All vineyard work here is done manually, and Mathieu makes the wines with as little manipulation as possible: native yeast fermentation, no additions other than minimal SO2 before bottling, slow malolactic fermentation, minimal racking, and no fining or filtering. The dominant soils here are limestone and tuffeau stone but outcroppings of gravel and sandy clay give completely different expressions of Cabernet Franc and Chenin Blanc.