COMTESSE DE VAZEILLES- POUILLY VINZELLES “Les Quarts” 2016
The plot is beautifully located mid-hill in the "Les Quarts" climate, which is undoubtedly the great terroir of the Pouilly-Vinzelles appellation. The plot benefits from a very beautiful exposure on the south-eastern hillside and old Chardonnay vines. The soils are clay-limestone rich in siliceous crystals which give this wine all its uniqueness and its incomparable identity. Its aromas are intense with notes of lemon and white flowers. It is a beautiful long, fresh, well-structured wine, camped on a long acidity tempered by a discreet and high quality aging.
History of the Château des Bachelards; Like many European wine regions including Burgundy with the famous Romanée-Conti or Le Clos de Tart, the Château des Bachelards owes its existence to the Benedictine monks. It was in fact around 1100 that the monks of Cluny Abbey created one of the many daughters of Cluny, Arpayé Abbey and chose to plant his vineyard on the place known as Les Bachelards. They thus draw the enclosure which still exists, with the 17th century house and the outbuildings of the abbey, which was destroyed during the Revolution. It is a family of notables of the region, the Platets, who bought the house and its vineyard still surrounded by a wall.
Exceptionally, the Platet family then became Lombard-Platet, remained owner of the Château des Bachelards from 1793 to 2007! During this long period, the Château des Bachelards is ranked among the best estates in the region, its terroirs are considered remarkable, well located and well exposed in the abundant wine literature of the 19th century and its quality is recognized. The silver medals obtained at the world exhibitions in London and Paris bear witness to this. Bachelards means "place of God" in the language of Eye.
The vineyard is certainly replanted after phylloxera like everywhere in France but another rare fact for the region, few vines have been uprooted since and still today many old vines of the domain date from 1910, the average age of the vines thus going from 60 to more than 100 years. Replanting is done systematically from a massive selection and today the estate is planted between 9 and 10,000 vines / ha. In 2007, a new owner took over the estate and converted it to organic farming, which is unique to Fleurie, making Château des Bachelards a pioneer in this area. The vineyard is therefore certified organic since 2007 and certified biodynamic since 2015 by Demeter. Since 2017, the Château des Bachelards has also been labeled "Farms of the Future".
At the beginning of 2014, Alexandra de Vazeilles, a viticulture and oenology graduate, acquired the Château des Bachelards, one of the most beautiful traditional residences in the Rhône, a vineyard with a large majority of very old vines, planted with first-class plants . The vineyard extends over 12 hectares including 6 hectares in Fleurie in one piece around the castle, all surrounded by a wall. To which are added hectares in Saint-Amour and Moulin-à-Vent. Alexandra de Vazeilles vinifies and also raises Pouilly-Vinzelles, because she likes Chardonnay on limestone which generates taut and chiseled wines.
