Chateau du Petit Thouars

The Chateau du Petit Thouars has an extraordinarily long and rich history. Built in the early 1500s as a sort of “low-key hunting lodge” for a wealthy family from the town of Thouars, the 150-hectare estate is run today by Sebastién du Petit Thouars. He is the twelfth generation to dwell here since his ancestor George purchased the property in 1636. 

Though records and physical evidence exist of wine having been made on the property centuries ago, it wasn’t until the late 1970s that the enterprise was revived—this time, by Sebastién’s father, who gradually planted fifteen hectares of Cabernet Franc (plus a little Chenin Blanc) immediately behind the house itself. Although Sebastién spent much of his younger years in Paris, he and his wife D’Arcy moved with their two young children to the chateau in 2013, and they have since made wine their foremost focus. This friendly, extremely energetic and intelligent couple combine a deep appreciation for their family’s history with a desire to push their wines and their vineyard management to their maximum of expression.

Chateau du Petit Thouars is located in the commune of Saint-Germain-sur-Vienne, in the southwest part of the Chinon appellation, along the south bank of the Vienne River, and immediately east of Saumur-Champigny.

The vineyards and cellar are managed by Michel Pinard, a born-and-bred Chinonnais who worked for many years as the right-hand-man of Charles Joguet—one of the appellation’s most famous and respected vignerons. A true man of the land in both appearance and spirit, Michel uses his profound, bred-in-bone familiarity with the particularities of this cépage in these soils to craft beautifully balanced, classic, unforced Chinon of immense expressive power. His deeply-rooted mastery of craft marries wonderfully with Sébastien and D’Arcy’s youthful zeal and vision