Domaine Philippe Alliet, 2018 Chinon ‘L’Huisserie’
The story of Domaine Philippe Alliet begins in 1985, when Philippe inherited parcels of vines around the hamlet of Briançon in Cravant-les-Côteaux from his father and uncle. These parcels served as the basis for the domaine in the early days, and now go into what is probably the domaine's most iconic and well-known cuvée, their Vieilles Vignes. Today, Philippe and his wife Claude, and now their son Pierre, are tending to around 19 hectares of vines, 18 of which are Cabernet Franc. These vines are predominantly in Cravant-les-Côteaux, with some key holdings in the Chinon commune which make up the domaine's top wines, which are their parcels in the lieux-dits of Coteau de Noiré and also l'Huisserie.
The legacy of Philippe Alliet is an important one to acknowledge. A lover of the great wines of Bordeaux and a believer in the potential for exceptional Cabernet Franc from the terroirs in Chinon, in the early 1990s, he was one of the earliest vignerons in Chinon to champion low yields, optimally ripe fruit, rigorous and meticulous work in the vineyard and attention to detail in the cellar, including longer elevage in barrel. With these pillars of the Alliet philosophy in place, the domaine quickly gained recognition for their high quality wines, and inspired a generation of vignerons to take similar steps towards a more quality-oriented vision for the wines from Chinon.
The commune of Chinon is among the most complex in the appellation in terms of terroirs. We have vineyards on both sides of the Vienne River, but the majority of the commune's vineyards are on the north side of the Vienne. Here the commune stretches about 4km from north to south and about 6km from east to west, but because we have the village of Chinon and several other smaller hamlets in the commune, the vineyard area is a bit more sporadic here.
The topography of the commune undulates and we have quite a variability in terms of altitudes and aspects. Most of the vineyards hover between 40m and upwards to 100m above sea level, and we have north, south, east and west facing slopes in this commune, which will have a big impact on sunshine exposure, which influences ripening.
As I have noted in some other videos/posts, this range in elevation is significant as it gives us an indication as to what terroirs we find where. To the west and to the north of the Chinon village itself, the majority of the vineyards lie at elevations between 55 and 75m above sea level, and here we find predominantly vineyards on the Upper Turonian yellow tuffeau chalk bedrock, with various alterations and variations on this tuffeau such as millarges.
Very close to the Chinon village and the Chinon fortress, we find a little pocket of vineyards, including Clos de l'Echo, that hover around 80 to upwards to 100m above sea level. This is where we find soils that date to the Senonian and Bartonian ages, and these are deeper clays, and sandy clays that can have a flint or quartz component to them.
In the eastern part of the commune, where l'Huisserie is located, the terroir picture is a little bit more complex. This is where there are a number of very famous vineyards within only a few hundred metres radius of each other, including Couly-Dutheil's Clos de l'Olive, Charles Joguet's Clos du Chêne Verte, Clos Guillot most famously associated with Bernard Baudry, and Philippe Alliet's Coteau de Noiré. These vineyards make up what is often referred to as Chinon's 'premier côte', referring to this first in a series of several pockets of sloping vineyards that stretch from the eastern side of the Chinon commune all the way east across the communes of Cravant-les-Côteaux and Panzoult. These sites all share the commonality of the influence of the Upper Turonian yellow tuffeau chalk bedrock.
Looking at l'Huisserie, this lieu-dit is a mere 300 to 900m from these sites, but here we are actually on a completely different terroir. l'Huisserie is among a cluster of vineyards that sit above and north of the premier côte, almost in a bit of an arc shape, at elevations of around 90 to 100m above sea level. This is where we find those deeper, heavier clays that date to the Senonian age, and virtually no impact of the tuffeau chalk. Also, we are closer to this large forested area to the northwest, which would create a cooler microclimate for these sites, in addition to the already cooler environment the clay soils contribute.
Historically the most highly regarded sites in the Chinon appellation, were the ones on the slopes, with favourable, warm exposures, and generally with the influence of the Turonian tuffeau chalk. The warmer exposures, coupled with shallower topsoils and the influence of the chalk, these sites would all be warmer, and would've ripen the grapes better in most vintages. In recent years with the changing climate, we have seen a string of warmer vintages, such as 2018, 2020, 2022, and it is becoming evident that some of these historically cooler sites, like l'Huisserie, another example would be Domaine de la Noblaie's Les Chiens Chiens in Ligré, these sites on these deeper clays, are performing well in these warmer vintages. That is to say, because of the clay's ability to hold moisture, it is consider a cooler soil, this may prove beneficial in warmer vintages allowing for slower ripening and a better alignment of phenolic and sugar maturities.
I recognize that for the average consumer, this level of detail may not be of interest, but in the future, we may see more and more people interested in cellaring top expressions of Cabernet Franc from the Loire, particularly with increasing prices in other regions across France, and these sorts of details about sites and vintages from specific producers may become more relevant. So, over time, the more I taste and meet with producers, I may be able to shed a bit more light on this topic for those that are interested.
Now, with that said, let me drill down to some specifics about Philippe Alliet's l'Huisserie and this lieu-dit. So, Philippe Alliet acquired these parcels in 2000, and the vines were planted in 2001. And they have 2.90 hectares here, in what is a larger lieu-dit of about 5.8 hectares, which is split into two parts. The domaine's parcels are in the western part of the lieu-dit, on a gentle most south to southeast-facing slope, at an elevation from around 92 to 99m above sea level. The topsoil is clay, with a mix of flint and quartz throughout, and then the subsoil is clay as well.
In terms of the winemaking, the fruit was all hand-harvested, hand-sorted and destemmed. Fermentation is in concrete with indigenous yeast, and they would do some light pumping over to aid extraction of only about 10 minutes per day. After about 3 weeks on skins, the free run wine and press wine are separated, and only the free run wine is used in the final cuvée. Élevage takes place in 500L oak barrels, 5% is new, and the aging is for 12 months in barrel, followed by 6 months in concrete, before the wine is bottled.
Key wine wine facts below:
Producer: Domaine Philippe Alliet
Appellation: Chinon
Commune: Chinon
Lieux-Dits: L’Huisserie
Soils: 50-80cm clay (argile) topsoil with flint and quartz, clay (argile) subsoil
Alcohol: 13.5%
