EARL DAMIEN PINON

Who are we

Damien is the 3rd generation of the family domain wich has grown time after time, to come today to 30 ha mainly on the Vernou sur Brenne village. We produce sparkling and still Vouvray wines. Our terroir, clay-limestone for the soil, limestone for the sub-soil allow us to make rich, well balanced and fruity wines with a great keeping. The vineyard is aged of 25-30 years, and we renew each year some of the older plots. The others are cultivated to make richer and more complex wines. But before making wines, we like to take care of our land and vines. We work our estate following sustainable methods, using in the same time modern technics and knowledge of ours parents. We have always run our domain using methods which promote the healthy ecosystem and preserve the land for the future. In 2020, we started the organic conversion and we are just obtaining the second year of conversion. The 30 hectares are managed with a great rigor, severe pruning, grassing, light treatments reduced to a minimum, working the soil to obtain the best expression of the terroir, the best quality, authenticity and fruit. The yields are on average 35 hl/Ha for our still wines, and 40 hl/Ha for our sparkling. After the pressing, the juices are selected and vinified separately. The alcoholic fermentation is run with natural yeast at very low temperatures in little vats to develop at the maximum Chenin Blanc aromas. We stir the fine sediments weekly to give more roundness and volume in the mouth. Ours sparkling Vouvray are made with the same process than Champagne, that is to say traditional method. It’s a second fermentation in bottles with residual sugar for a part. Then we keep the bottles on “lattes” during 12 months at the minimum. For us, we prefer selling ours fine bubbles after 20 months of ageing.