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Chateau du Hureau

Although the Loire is crammed with historic chateaux, only a very tiny number of wine estates are graced with a true chateau of their own. This is a region where the vignerons have built farmhouses rather than stately homes, but naturally there are exceptions. Chateau du Hureau is one such estate; proprietors Philippe and Georges Vatan inhabit the house, which comes complete with 13th Century cellars cut into the tuffeau.

The chateau is topped by a weather vane featuring a wild boar, the name hureau referring to an old, solitary male boar. From their headquarters beneath the vane, Philippe and Georges supervise 17 ha of vineyards, scattered over 21 separate plots, spread throughout the appellation. Most are planted to Cabernet Franc, with a small amount of Chenin Blanc. The vines are largely interplanted with grass, otherwise they are tilled throughout the summer. There is a green harvest to control yields. The end result is a white cuvée which varies from dry to sweet (and may also have bubbles), and three red wines.

The Chenin Blanc is harvested at 30 hl/ha from just 2.5 ha of vines. Remarkably, the fruit is harvested in tries in order to select only the ripest berries, with the resulting wine depending very much on the characteristics of the harvest. In favourable years, when conditions permit the harvesting of grapes that have undergone passerillage, or are affected by noble rot, the Vatans will produce a sweet Coteaux du Saumur; otherwise, a dry Saumur Blanc is the result. Either way, the wine sees a period sur lie which encourages the development of body. In addition, some Chenin is passed to an external house where it is made into sparkling wine, returning to the Vatans as Saumur Brut.

The three red cuvées are led by what might be regarded as the house wine, Chateau du Hureau; this is a blend from 17 of the 21 plots, some of which include some very old vines, as much as 70 years. The fruit is largely picked by hand, although perhaps a quarter is machine-harvested. The Cuvée des Fevettes originates from just two of the plots owned by the Vatans, and the Cuvée Lisagathe is a similar selection, from vines subject to at least two episodes of crop thinning during the summer, keeping yields to a minimum. All the wines see an earth filtration before bottling. (6/6/06)

Contact details:
Address: 49400 Dampierre sur Loire
Telephone: +33 (0) 2 41 67 60 40
Fax: +33 (0) 2 41 50 43 35
Internet: www.domaine-hureau.fr

Chateau du Hureau - Tasting Notes

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Chateau du Hureau Saumur-Champigny Tuffe 2007: Burnt, under-ripe, stretched out fruit here. Some weight on the palate, although the style is rather green, with apple-skin acidity. It has some flesh to it, but it is the burnt-fat flavour that seems to dominate. From a Charles Sydney tasting. 13-14/20 (February 2009)

Chateau du Hureau Saumur-Champigny Les Fevettes 2007: Cleanly styled on the nose, with raspberry fruit. There is a little tomato leaf as well, but in its favour it has freshness and brightness. The palate is quite textured, perhaps a touch diffuse, but with some nice, chalky-smoky red fruits alongside more of the tomato. But there are enough good points here to make this worthwhile. From a Charles Sydney tasting. 15-16+/20 (February 2009)

Chateau du Hureau Saumur-Champigny 2005: This is the entry-level wine from the Vatan family in this most excellent of vintages, and it has a good, rich and dark colour which betrays the warmth of the year. The nose carries plenty of fresh interest, starting off with a melange of raspberry and blackberry whish is later augmented with elements of smoke, tomato, charcoal and blackcurrant. The palate is full and yet fresh, with notes of roasted, sun-baked herbs alongside savoury sun-dried tomato and black raspberry. This certainly has a good and distinctive style, and interesting fruit complexity. The finish is sappy, toothsome and shows some nice, tannic extract. Overall this is a good but very fresh and lively, rather punchy style. From a tasting of Saumur wines. 17/20 (January 2010)

Chateau du Hureau Saumur-Champigny 2003: This has a very good, dark, rather dense colour in the glass. Lovely fruit on the nose, initially a little high-toned and acetic but this blows off, settling down to a macerated raspberry and black cherry character. Very bright style on the palate, with crisply fresh acidity that just carries the wine across the mouth with a wave of zippy, mineral, rocky attitude. Just a little extract gives a sense of texture and body to balance this out. Rather a short finish, but overall a very attractive style that brings back memories of Saumur in abundance. Very good. 17/20 (June 2006) Label