François et Julien Pinon

Established in 1786, the estate has been built up over the last seven generations and now covers 37 acres. The vineyard is situated 5 kilometres North-East of Vouvray, in the vallée de Cousse. The diversity of our wine is due to the rich variety of soils (mostly clay and flint), the various sun exposures and the age of the vines.
In 1987, François PINON, former child psychologist, took over the family estate from his father. Combining traditional techniques (such as short pruning, working the soil and low yields) with the latest technology, François emphasizes ecologically friendly vineyards and cellar practices. He works now with his son Julien, former city planner.

The grape variety that they use is the chenin blanc, 100%. The  wines benefit from the amazing plasticity of this historical grape of the Loire valley. Chenin blanc provides all types of white wines (stills and sparklings).

The hand picking (done by approximately 25 workers over 3 weeks) allows them  to make a precise selection of the clusters. Thus, the grapes arrive in the press whole and intact. Firstly we harvest the clusters for the sparkling wine. The harvest continues with the dry and slightly sweet wine. When the weather conditions allow, we select overripe grapes (affected by botrytis) for the moelleux and the liquoreux (dessert wine).

The cuvée Silex noir is harvested on flint soil and the cuvée Trois argiles on clay soil.

The Déronnières -a new cuvée- comes from our prize land, which is rich in chalk.

Since spring 2003, and in order to bring out the character of the terroir, the estate has been operating according to the principles of organic agriculture (Ecocert certification):

  • Creation of a living soil, rich in microbial life, without the use of pesticides and weedkillers
  • Reinforcement of the plants’ resistance to diseases, thanks to working the soil mechanically
  • Minimal use of organic manure
  • Use of organic treatments in the lowest possible doses, in order to preserve fauna that will 
help the development of both the leaves and the grapes.