Marc Plouzeau took over Château de la Bonnelière in 1999, continuing the work his father Pierre began when he revived this long-abandoned family estate in Chinon in 1976. Situated on the Left Bank of the Vienne River, the domaine is rooted in one of the Loire’s most historic winegrowing areas and has become a reference point for organic viticulture in the region under Marc’s leadership. The vines, now around 30 years old, grow on clay-limestone soils with a south-facing exposure, lending both ripeness and finesse to the wines. Vinified with native yeasts and aged for six months in tank after malolactic fermentation, the wine is made with minimal sulfur and no unnecessary interventions.
A brilliant dark ruby-red colour with garnet-purple tinges opens with an expressive nose that combines the scents of red fruits (strawberries, raspberries) with toasty, woody nuances and hints of coffee. On the palate, the wine is supple and full-bodied, with tannins that melt into a fine, full-bodied structure. This is further softened by aromas of black fruit (hedgeberries and bilberries), whose freshness energises the whole and lingers on through to a fine finish.
91 John Gilman - View from the Cellar It had been a few vintages since I last drank a bottle of Marc Plouzeau’s Rive Gauche bottling of Chinon. His newly released 2023 version is outstanding, coming in at an even thirteen percent octane and offering up a complex and an utterly classical bouquet of cassis, dark berries, tree bark, gravelly soil tones, cigar smoke and a hint of menthol in the upper register. On the palate the wine is bright, full-bodied, focused and classy, with a lovely core of black fruit, excellent soil signature, ripe, moderate tannins and impeccable balance on the long, complex and precise finish. Marc makes this bottling for early appeal and it is certainly delicious right out of the blocks, but it has the depth and underlying structure to also age very nicely for fifteen or twenty years. Fine juice!
