Philippe Foreau is the third generation of the Foreau family to produce Vouvray from this renowned domaine which his grandfather purchased in 1923. Philippe assumed the direction of the domaine in 1983 upon the retirement of his father, André. Today the domaine consists of 11.5 hectares planted with Chenin Blanc.
The vineyards are located in the northeast corner of Vouvray, sited mid-hill with 100% south/southeast/southwest exposures. The principal vineyards are known as "Les Perruches" and "Les Ruettes". The average age of the vines is approximately 35 years. Yields are low, averaging 33 hectoliters per hectare. The vineyards are tended pursuant to organic methods - without the use of herbicides and worked with organic fertilizers.
Harvest manual with numerous passes through the vineyards to select ripe grapes, bunch by bunch. Crush is done with a pneumatic press and fermentation occurs in 300L barrels. The barrels are of varying age with a renewal of about 5% annually. Malolactic fermentation never occurs. The wines ferment slowly in the cellar over a two month period at about 16 degrees Centigrade. The wines are racked twice before bottling which usually occurs for the still wines in mid-May of the year following harvest. All sparking Vouvray is made using the strict Champagne method. Foreau never chapitalizes his wines; demi-sec (off-dry) and moelleux (sweet) cuvées are only made in years when the grapes naturally reach a high degree oPhilippe Foreau is the third generation of the Foreau family to produce Vouvray from this renowned domaine which his grandfather purchased in 1923. Philippe assumed the direction of the domaine in 1983 upon the retirement of his father, André. Today the domaine consists of 11.5 hectares planted with Chenin Blanc.
The vineyards are located in the northeast corner of Vouvray, sited mid-hill with 100% south/southeast/southwest exposures. The principal vineyards are known as "Les Perruches" and "Les Ruettes". The average age of the vines is approximately 35 years. Yields are low, averaging 33 hectoliters per hectare. The vineyards are tended pursuant to organic methods - without the use of herbicides and worked with organic fertilizers.
Harvest manual with numerous passes through the vineyards to select ripe grapes, bunch by bunch. Crush is done with a pneumatic press and fermentation occurs in 300L barrels. The barrels are of varying age with a renewal of about 5% annually. Malolactic fermentation never occurs. The wines ferment slowly in the cellar over a two month period at about 16 degrees Centigrade. The wines are racked twice before bottling which usually occurs for the still wines in mid-May of the year following harvest. All sparking Vouvray is made using the strict Champagne method. Foreau never chapitalizes his wines; demi-sec (off-dry) and moelleux (sweet) cuvées are only made in years when the grapes naturally reach a high degree of ripeness and sweetness. The sparkling wines remain on the lees for 4 years to achieve maximum richness and complexity; disgorging occurs once each quarter. Philippe Foreau's wines age remarkably. Each wine exhibits an extraordinary panoply of flavors and aromas of fruit, floral and earth elements.
ripeness and sweetness. The sparkling wines remain on the lees for 4 years to achieve maximum richness and complexity; disgorging occurs once each quarter. Philippe Foreau's wines age remarkably. Each wine exhibits an extraordinary panoply of flavors and aromas of fruit, floral and earth elements.