There are only a handful of solid old names in Chinon. Couly-Dutheil, cousins of the famed Moueix family in Bordeaux, is one of them. Some of the old names keep fairly extensive libraries in their... Read More

There are only a handful of solid old names in Chinon. Couly-Dutheil, cousins of the famed Moueix family in Bordeaux, is one of them. Some of the old names keep fairly extensive libraries in their cellars. Again, C-D is one of them.

If you've ever been to Chinon, you may have discovered that, when it comes to wine cellaring, they have us beat by a long shot. In Chinon it's simple: they dig a little. The ground is chalk and soft and for centuries they've carved caves that are a steady 58 degrees, 12 months of the year. The caves are capacious and really there is no limit to the number of bottles they can store. Nobody needs to buy a new wine fridge just to lay down a case of Vouvray.