chateau du petit thouars

I stopped to buy some wine at this lovely small chateau in white tuffeau on a bright sunny day in January 2015. Sébastian and his assistant greeted most warmly and welcomingly. The entire experience was a pleasure. The wines are excellent. The setting is utterly beautiful.

We arrived unannounced at the Chateau to be greeted warmly by a lovely gentleman who thankfully spoke English. We were humbled to find his family had owned the Chateau since the 16C He graciously explained much about his winery and his family while he opened all new tasting bottles of the wines he thought would most suit our palates. We were only able to purchase a few bottles but the samlpes were delicious. He has a little chenin noir that even has his own webpage - Dimitri ! Many thanks to Monsieur Yves Aubert de Saint Georges.

Two weeks ago Sebastien gave four of us a guided tour of the vineyard and winery and then provided a tasting of the range of wines produced. He took time to explain the history of his family and the chateau, and gave us quite a detailed description of the grape-growing and wine-making process and of each of the wines we sampled. A fascinating tour I would definitely recommend, made all the better as we had the opportunity to meet Sebastien's father (Yves Aubert de Saint-Georges, compte du Petit-Thours). It was also of interest to us to discover that some of the wines are now available in Pennsylvania (where we live). We took away a case of 6 bottles of each of the Chenin blanc, the Cremant rose and a mixed case of reds. We enjoyed the wine so much that only one bottle survived to make the trip home to the USA!

Sebastien contacted me after I had posted a request for advice about Chinon wines on a newsgroup. We visited the chateau (most elegant - worth a visit in its own right) and were looked after most kindly by Sebastien and his charming wife. They both speak excellent English and we were given a comprehensive tasting of his wines - unusually he makes a very good Chenin blanc white. His explanation of the production and qualities of the wines was outstanding and we ended up buying a case of white and one of his more expensive reds. I would suggest ringing before a visit to ensure that Sebastien can be present to take you through his wines.Gordon