Domaine Charles Joguet

Charles Joguet took over the family estate, where vines had been planted since 1830, and created the domaine that bears his name in 1957. The domaine credits him with bringing parcel-based vinification inspired by Burgundy to Chinon and with developing the first stainless-steel tanks with pigeage. Cravant-les-Coteaux vigneron Marcel Angelliaume advised him to stop selling his wine in bulk and to bottle his own, which made him one of the earliest adherents to domaine bottling in the appellation, and he moved the domaine away from mixed agriculture towards viticulture alone. Between 1962 and 1976 the domaine planted La Cure and Les Varennes du Grand Clos on the left bank, then acquired and planted Clos du Chêne Vert on the right bank in 1976. In 1985 it entered a partnership with the Genet family, who contributed 11 hectares (Silènes, Clos Monplaisir), and in 1989 it bought a large 15th-century tuffeau cellar for ageing its wines. Charles Joguet retired in 1997 to devote himself to painting, and the Genet family continued the winegrowing work. Michel Pinard was the winemaker from the 1980s; François-Xavier Barc, who had worked at the domaine in the late 1990s, returned in 2003 as viticulturist and winemaker and began to move the domaine away from a dependence on chemicals. A study of the domaine's terroirs was carried out by Mr Morlat of the INRA in Angers, the gradual transition to organic farming began in 2008, and Ecocert certification followed in 2016.

• 1957: Charles Joguet created the domaine on the family estate, with vines planted since 1830.
• 1962 to 1976: La Cure and Les Varennes du Grand Clos planted on the left bank; Clos du Chêne Vert acquired and planted on the right bank in 1976.
• 1985: partnership with the Genet family, owners since that year; 1989: purchase of a 15th-century tuffeau cellar.
• 1997: Charles Joguet retired to devote himself to painting; 2016: Ecocert organic certification.

The domaine names Marie-Françoise and Jacques Genet as owners; Jacques Genet and his family have owned the domaine since 1985. A team of six people surrounds Jacques Genet, Kevin Fontaine (vines and wine) and Anne-Charlotte Genet (marketing). Kevin Fontaine (production) and Anne-Charlotte Genet joined the domaine during its 2006 to 2016 organic conversion; Anne-Charlotte Genet joined in 2006 after her training at the OIV.

• Owners: Marie-Françoise and Jacques Genet; the Genet family has owned the domaine since 1985.
• Vines and wine: Kevin Fontaine. Marketing: Anne-Charlotte Genet, who joined in 2006.
• Earlier winemakers: Michel Pinard, from the 1980s; François-Xavier Barc, viticulturist and winemaker on his return in 2003.

The vineyard covers 30 hectares of Cabernet Franc and 2 hectares of Chenin Blanc. It is farmed organically on terroirs ranging from sand to clay-limestone, favouring low yields of 25 to 40 hl/ha, with hand picking and double sorting; the domaine has returned to tillage, eliminated pesticides entirely and uses grass cover and hedgerows to promote biodiversity. Les Varennes du Grand Clos covers four and a half hectares at the foot of the gravelly terrace, planted between 1962 and 1976 on silico-clay and silico-limestone soils. La Cure is two hectares planted in 1974 on gravel with a clay base, opposite the church of Sazilly. Clos de la Dioterie, just a stone's throw from the winery, is a two-hectare clos of 70- to 80-year-old vines on highly calcareous clay with a north-east exposure, and Les Charmes is a north-facing clay-limestone plot on the heights of Anché. Clos du Chêne Vert lies in the town of Chinon on the right bank of the Vienne: two hectares on a steep south-west-facing slope of clay and silica-limestone, named after a holm oak that is the regrowth of a tree planted by the monks of Bourgueil in the 12th century. Silènes comes from ten hectares planted in 1988 on the siliceous plateau of Beaumont-en-Véron, between the Loire and Vienne rivers.

• 30 ha of Cabernet Franc and 2 ha of Chenin Blanc, certified organic (Ecocert) since 2016.
• Low yields of 25 to 40 hl/ha; hand picking and double sorting.
• Left bank of the Vienne: Les Varennes du Grand Clos (4.5 ha), La Cure (2 ha, planted 1974) and Les Charmes; Clos de la Dioterie (2 ha, 70- to 80-year-old vines) lies next to the winery.
• Right bank: Clos du Chêne Vert (2 ha, steep south-west-facing slope). Silènes: 10 ha planted in 1988 on the Beaumont-en-Véron plateau.

After alcoholic fermentation, free-run and press wines are blended for malolactic fermentation, in vats for Silènes and Les Petites Roches and in barrels for La Cure, Les Charmes, Les Varennes du Grand Clos, Clos Monplaisir, Clos du Chêne Vert and Clos de la Dioterie. Les Varennes du Grand Clos receives a 10-day cold pre-fermentation maceration and a vatting period of at least four weeks below 21°C with frequent pumping over and punching down, then ages 15 to 16 months in French oak barrels and six months in vats before bottling. Clos du Chêne Vert, the first plot harvested, has been macerated in wooden vats since 2008 and ages 12 to 15 months in barrels. Clos de la Dioterie, the last parcel harvested, ages 14 to 18 months in French oak barrels and then 10 months in vats. La Cure gets five days of cold skin maceration, over 15 days of vatting at 24 to 26°C and 12 months of barrel ageing. The rosé comes from a plot on alluvial soil, is direct-pressed, skips malolactic fermentation to keep its fruit fresh and matures three months in stainless steel. The Chenin Blanc is picked in two passes: the first for the dry whites Clos de la Plante Martin and La Plante Martin, the second, rarer, for the botrytised berries of the sweet Nectar de la Plante Martin. The dry white is vinified in 600-litre barrels, matured eight months in barrel and then ten months in stainless steel before bottling.

• Malolactic fermentation in vats for Silènes and Les Petites Roches, in barrels for the parcel cuvées.
• Les Varennes du Grand Clos: 15 to 16 months in French oak, then six months in vats.
• Clos de la Dioterie: 14 to 18 months in French oak, then 10 months in vats; Clos du Chêne Vert: 12 to 15 months in barrels.
• Chenin Blanc picked in two passes: dry Clos de la Plante Martin and La Plante Martin, sweet Nectar de la Plante Martin from botrytised berries.

The domaine groups its range into four families. Fresh and fruity: Rosé, Silènes, Les Petites Roches and a white Les Petites Roches. Gourmet and generous: La Cure, Les Charmes, a white Les Charmes and the white Clos de la Plante Martin. Rich and powerful: Les Varennes du Grand Clos, Clos du Chêne Vert and Clos de la Dioterie. Confidential cuvées: Clos Monplaisir, Les Varennes Franc de Pied, Nectar de la Plante Martin and Gourmandise de la Plante Martin. Silènes, Les Petites Roches, La Cure, Les Charmes, Les Varennes du Grand Clos, Clos du Chêne Vert and Clos de la Dioterie are AOP Chinon reds made from Cabernet Franc. Les Petites Roches, formerly Cuvée Jeunes Vignes, blends left-bank parcels with the same soil profile and uses free-run wine only.

• Fresh and fruity: Rosé, Silènes, Les Petites Roches (red and white).
• Gourmet and generous: La Cure, Les Charmes (red and white), Clos de la Plante Martin (white).
• Rich and powerful: Les Varennes du Grand Clos, Clos du Chêne Vert, Clos de la Dioterie.
• Confidential cuvées: Clos Monplaisir, Les Varennes Franc de Pied, Nectar de la Plante Martin, Gourmandise de la Plante Martin.

The domaine describes its Cabernet Franc, known as 'Breton', as offering 'aromas of red fruits and violets, evolving towards truffles in wines for laying down,' and its Chenin Blanc as producing 'great dry white wines on our clay-limestone soils.' Its note on Clos de la Dioterie 2020 cites 'Dense black fruit, nascent truffle and deep minerality on a monumental frame,' while it calls Silènes 'a juicy, easily digestible Cabernet Franc.'

The domaine is at 3, rue de la Vienne in Sazilly. Visits range from a 1h30 vineyard and vat-room tour with a stop in Clos de la Dioterie to a lunch and tasting in the 15th-century tuffeau cellar and a harvest workshop with a meal.

Primary sources (producer's own site): https://www.charlesjoguet.com/en, https://www.charlesjoguet.com/en/pages/le-domaine, https://www.charlesjoguet.com/en/pages/oenotourisme, https://www.charlesjoguet.com/en/products/clos-de-la-dioterie-2020, https://www.charlesjoguet.com/en/products/clos-du-chene-vert-2022, https://www.charlesjoguet.com/en/products/la-cure-2022, https://www.charlesjoguet.com/en/products/les-charmes-2022, https://www.charlesjoguet.com/en/products/les-petites-roches-2023, https://www.charlesjoguet.com/en/products/silenes-2023, https://www.charlesjoguet.com/en/products/les-varennes-du-grand-clos-2022. Secondary sources: InterLoire, https://www.vinsdeloire.fr/en/charles-joguet-estate; The Wine Doctor, https://www.thewinedoctor.com/loire/joguet_2.shtml and https://www.thewinedoctor.com/loire/joguet_3.shtml. Last verified 2026-10-19. Where the producer's site and a secondary source disagree, the producer's site governs.