CHAVIGNOL – WHERE ARE THE GOATS?

Continuing an occasional series on my favourite wine villages, although strictly speaking Chavignol is not a village but a part of the town of Sancerre.  However, with a church, a hotel, restaurants a cheese shop and some of the best Sancerre producers around, the casual observer wouldn’t care about the official status.

Chavignol is not just part of the Sancerre wine AOC but is also famous for its goats cheese – Crottin de Chavignol.  Apparently, many years ago there were many goats in Chavignol but nowadays although they make goats cheese there, the milk is imported from the surrounding area – the Goats Cheese Chavignol AOC being particularly large (550,000 hectares) compared to the “village”.   However, even in the surrounding area you rarely see goats as they are mainly kept in sheds.   Never mind though, the goats' cheese is excellent!  Visit the excellent cheese shop Dubois Boulay if in the area.

Gerard Boulay

One of the reasons that I love Chavignol is that it contains a number of my favourite Sancerre producers – namely Gerard Boulay, Serge Laporte and particularly Henri Bourgeois (although there another dozen or so other vignerons in the hamlet.  I particularly like their wines that are produced on the Chavignol slope – La Cote Des Monts Damnes.

According to the sign in the village the "Les Vignerons" in Chavigniol are;
Lionel Aldon
Louis Boulay
Pierre Boulay
Henri Bourgeois
Hubert Brochard
Cotat
Alain Delaporte
Vincent Delaporte et Fils
R.Fontaine (le Caveau)
Serge Laporte

Gerard Lelievre
Michel Lesimple
Yves Martin
Mme Francois Milon
Georges et Rene Moreux
Roger Moreux
Andre Neveu
Frederic Neveu
Bertrand Paillard
Claude Thomas
Noel Thomas
Pascal Thomas
Paul Thomas
Edmond Vattan
Christian Veron


 The local hotel, owned by the Bourgeois family, also has the same name as the famed Chavignol slope La Cote Des Monts Damnes.  .We stayed there last April on my birthday and I can definitely recommend staying there for the weekend.    The food in the restaurant is also very good and is worth going to even if you are not staying in the hotel.

View towards Sancerre from the Cote des Monts Damnes April 2012

View towards Sancerre from the Cotes Des Monts Damnes July 2011

During our stay at the hotel we had a tour of the vineyard, winery and a tasting conducted by Raymond Bourgeois.  The tour was extremely interesting and lasted a couple of hours after which we tasted over sixteen different wines and bought a few cases of our favourites.   The wines of Henri Bourgeois that we thought worth buying after our tasting and paid good money for were:

Le MD de Bourgeois 2002

La Bourgeoise 2008 Sancerre Pinot Noir red wine
Henri Bourgeois 2010 Pouilly Fume Sauvignon Blanc white wine
Le MD de Bourgeois 2002 Sancerre  Sauvignon Blanc white wine
Le MD de Bourrgeois 2010 Sancerre  Sauvignon Blanc white wine
Etienne Henri en barriques 2000 Sancerre oaked  Sauvignon Blanc white wine
La Bourgeoise 2009 Sancerre Sauvignon Blanc white wine
Les Baronnes 2010 Sancerre Sauvignon Blanc white wine
Sancerre Jadis 2002 Sauvignon Blanc white wine
La Bourgeoise 2002 Sancerre Sauvignon Blanc white wine
Les Bonnes Bouches 2010 Sancerre Pinot Noir red wine
Vendange de la Saint Luc 2007 Sweet Sauvignon Blanc vin de table
Bel Echo 2010 by Clos Henri Terroir Broadridge New Zealand Marlborough Sauvignon Blanc white wine
Clos Henri 2008 Marlborough Pinot Noir New Zealand red wine

You will note that Henri Bourgeois also has vineyards and a winery in New Zealand.  Many of the Michelin star restaurants in the UK now seem to stock these wines - local to Tongham try them at Steve Drake at the Clockhouse Ripley; they have an award winning wine list and fantastic cuisine.  They also have them in my favourite wine bar in Bourges - le Nez de Vin.

Excellent Hotel in Chavignol

Here is a link to the hotel website - La Cotes des Monts Damnes

As I am writing this blog in February 2013 I am tasting the 2002 Le MD de Bourgeois - absolute nectar, complex, minerally, wonderful aged Sancerre with slight honey notes - who says white wines need to be drunk young!   I could easily compare it favourably to a more expensive Burgundy white.

The famed vineyards of Chavignol

The wines of Chavignol are part of the AOC Sancerre and as such are either made with Pinot Noir grapes if red or rose or with Sauvignon Blanc if white.  The best Chavignol wines are the whites made with grapes from La Cotes des Monts Damnes - this would be a Premier Cru if in Burgundy.

For those that aren't able to get to Chavignol, soak up some of the atmosphere through the pictures below:

Hope you enjoyed this tour as much as we did. Merci Monsieur Raymond Bourgeois.   Here is a link to the Henri Bourgeois website.   Chavignol is a little hamlet that I am unlikely to tire of.