A few photos taken yesterday during a visit to see Mathieu Vallée of Chateau Yvonne. Mathieu used to be an engineer and initially resisted the urge to become involved in wine like his father and brother. 5 years ago however he had a change of heart and today he owns Chateau Yvonne in Parnay - the heart of the Saumur Champigny appellation.
He has 28 small parcels within 3 different villages making up a total of 11 hectares (8 Cabernet Franc and 3 Chenin Blanc). Total production is around 25,000 bottles on average. 
He has one person helping him in the vineyard on a full-time basis and they do the pruning together. He finished this week - late by some standards but he was keen to point out the benefits of pruning late in terms of frost protection. 
We enjoyed a tasting in his delightfully rustic tasting room, located in front of his winery which is hewn out of the tuffeau limestone. Our thanks go to Mathieu for welcoming us at a time when he should probably have been at home (he was celebrating the birth of his second baby only a couple of days ago).
Tasting notes to follow.
Chateau Yvonne
16 rue Cristal
49730 Parnay
Tel 02 41 67 41 29
chateau.yvonne@wanadoo.fr
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