The vineyards of Château de Beaufort
A word from the architect who has become .... Winemaker!
Over 10 years ago my friend, Martin de Framond, National Archives director of the Haute Loire had recommended when we met that I should read the book about the tribute paid to the Archbishops of the Puy. You will find some interesting information in it, he said. Without fail, I followed his advice and discovered that over many centuries the landlords of Goudet had paid tribute to the Archbishops of the Puy by gifting them castles, windmills, and vineyards.
I was immediately enamored with the idea of producing wine in Beaufort. But where did it grow?
The seigneuries of Goudet and Beaufort counted hundreds of hectares over a dozen counties. I got lucky. When questioning Bernard Philibert, the scholar of the village, who, for years, had read everything that had been published about Goudet history, he confirmed that there under the castle, at the South and the West… these lands were known as ‘The Vineyards’.
That was further corroborated by Jean-Claude Massebeuf, a farmer in Goudet. The lands that I had thought were used to grow vegetables were in fact vineyards.
It was then that I began to think of reintroducing vineyards to the estate. It would be the culmination of all of our efforts to restore and honour the Château of Beaufort and it’s wine making heritage. The château de Beaufort once again inhabited since 2013 was going to recover its legitimacy as a vineyard. I talked to Vincent Legrand, the wine merchant, who although thrilled to hear about our wine making project in this magnificent location had some concerns namely the altitude!!! That conversation took place ten years ago, and no one had heard let alone talked about global warming … Since then, times have changed.
In 2021, while drinking wine in his shop, Vincent asked me: ‘where are you at with your project of growing wine in Beaufort? My answer candidly was: ‘you are right, nowhere. I am going to do it now’! This conversation over a glass of wine is what spurred me on and how things got started. Vincent generously shared his experience on how to prepare the lands and advised on which wine varieties to use, which ended up being a key determining factor.
Vincent was the one to tell me about the hybrid grape well known in other countries but not liked by the French vignerons. From my perspective, these grapes had many benefits, amongst them they didn’t need pesticide treatments.
As a reminder, wine varieties in France need more than a dozen pesticide treatments a year and represent 35% of agricultural pesticides against 5% of cultivated lands. I sought advice from certain wine growers, but they were very skeptical – “poor lad, he knows nothing “(and they were right!) – and told me to be reasonable.
I wasn’t discouraged though, the idea of not using pesticides was another risk I was willing to take. One more! Candide in Candide’s land.
In the spring of 2022, we planted 1 350 feet of Solaris. Unfortunately, that year France experienced a strong heat wave and at the end of the summer half of the crop had died despite the watering. Vincent had been called away to other wine growing projects located in Haute Loire and Cantal, and I asked myself what I should do next. There was no way I was going to give up, especially since I had learned that my grandson who knew nothing of my activity had decided to study oenology!
Then my friends, the Chacornac brothers, the local contractors who were involved in the renovation of the castle since the beginning in 2010 heard about the project. They got very excited despite knowing nothing about wine growing, notwithstanding growing up on a farm and running a plant nursery.
Since starting my wine growing project, thanks to supportive local landowners (who I thank wholeheartedly), I have acquired new acres of land around the castle. In addition, I extend my thanks to the SAF2R, and this year, to the Chambre d’Agriculture of Haute Loire. They have helped me pursue my dreams and extend my vineyards.
My grandson has finished his studies. He says hi from time to time and is starting an Italian wine business. Let’s hope that one day he will add the wine of château de Beaufort to his catalogue: Beaufort-Julien!
So far, the summer 2024 is looking promising, but let’s wait and see…
We have planted 10 000 wine grapes and we hope to plant 5 000 to 6 000 more this winter.
Napoléon used to say : We start then we’ll see !!
Where are we going? We’ll see
More to follow
A word from the architect who has become .... Winemaker!
Over 10 years ago my friend, Martin de Framond, National Archives director of the Haute Loire had recommended when we met that I should read the book about the tribute paid to the Archbishops of the Puy. You will find some interesting information in it, he said. Without fail, I followed his advice and discovered that over many centuries the landlords of Goudet had paid tribute to the Archbishops of the Puy by gifting them castles, windmills, and vineyards.
I was immediately enamored with the idea of producing wine in Beaufort. But where did it grow?
The seigneuries of Goudet and Beaufort counted hundreds of hectares over a dozen counties. I got lucky. When questioning Bernard Philibert, the scholar of the village, who, for years, had read everything that had been published about Goudet history, he confirmed that there under the castle, at the South and the West… these lands were known as ‘The Vineyards’.
That was further corroborated by Jean-Claude Massebeuf, a farmer in Goudet. The lands that I had thought were used to grow vegetables were in fact vineyards.
It was then that I began to think of reintroducing vineyards to the estate. It would be the culmination of all of our efforts to restore and honour the Château of Beaufort and it’s wine making heritage. The château de Beaufort once again inhabited since 2013 was going to recover its legitimacy as a vineyard. I talked to Vincent Legrand, the wine merchant, who although thrilled to hear about our wine making project in this magnificent location had some concerns namely the altitude!!! That conversation took place ten years ago, and no one had heard let alone talked about global warming … Since then, times have changed.
In 2021, while drinking wine in his shop, Vincent asked me: ‘where are you at with your project of growing wine in Beaufort? My answer candidly was: ‘you are right, nowhere. I am going to do it now’! This conversation over a glass of wine is what spurred me on and how things got started. Vincent generously shared his experience on how to prepare the lands and advised on which wine varieties to use, which ended up being a key determining factor.
Vincent was the one to tell me about the hybrid grape well known in other countries but not liked by the French vignerons. From my perspective, these grapes had many benefits, amongst them they didn’t need pesticide treatments.
As a reminder, wine varieties in France need more than a dozen pesticide treatments a year and represent 35% of agricultural pesticides against 5% of cultivated lands. I sought advice from certain wine growers, but they were very skeptical – “poor lad, he knows nothing “(and they were right!) – and told me to be reasonable.
I wasn’t discouraged though, the idea of not using pesticides was another risk I was willing to take. One more! Candide in Candide’s land.
In the spring of 2022, we planted 1 350 feet of Solaris. Unfortunately, that year France experienced a strong heat wave and at the end of the summer half of the crop had died despite the watering. Vincent had been called away to other wine growing projects located in Haute Loire and Cantal, and I asked myself what I should do next. There was no way I was going to give up, especially since I had learned that my grandson who knew nothing of my activity had decided to study oenology!
Then my friends, the Chacornac brothers, the local contractors who were involved in the renovation of the castle since the beginning in 2010 heard about the project. They got very excited despite knowing nothing about wine growing, notwithstanding growing up on a farm and running a plant nursery.
Since starting my wine growing project, thanks to supportive local landowners (who I thank wholeheartedly), I have acquired new acres of land around the castle. In addition, I extend my thanks to the SAF2R, and this year, to the Chambre d’Agriculture of Haute Loire. They have helped me pursue my dreams and extend my vineyards.
My grandson has finished his studies. He says hi from time to time and is starting an Italian wine business. Let’s hope that one day he will add the wine of château de Beaufort to his catalogue: Beaufort-Julien!
So far, the summer 2024 is looking promising, but let’s wait and see…
We have planted 10 000 wine grapes and we hope to plant 5 000 to 6 000 more this winter.
Napoléon used to say : We start then we’ll see !!
Where are we going? We’ll see
More to follow
