Château de La Chaize
Picto Lachaize
OUR PROJECT

A 5-STAR PROJECT

A two-fold project.

On the one hand, restore the former splendor of the estate by renovating all the buildings. This renovation project is directed by Didier Repellin, architect-in-chief for historical French buildings, internationally known for his restoration of the Villa Médicis between 1995 and 2013 and the renovation of the Hôtel Dieu in Lyon.

On the other hand, implement an ambitious, demanding environmental approach to the entire wine estate so that the estate becomes the model for viticulture that is perfectly integrated into its terroir and totally environmentally-friendly.

AN AMBITIOUS ECOLOGICAL APPROACH

For reasons that are both ethical and ecological, Domaine du Château de La Chaize has embarked upon an unprecedented energy and environmental transition.

Five objectives have been set to successfully guide this project:

  • Convert the entire estate to organic grape production,
  • Be self-sufficient in terms of electricity and heating,
  • Use vehicles, equipment and work implements that use only electrical energy,
  • Recover and reuse every byproduct from the grape-growing and wine-making activities with the ultimate goal of Zero Waste,
  • Achieve carbon neutrality.
Picto Lachaize
OUR PROJECT

ONE WITH THE ENVIRONMENT

Creatively use every type of natural resource, produce no waste that cannot be recycled, use only non-polluting renewable energies and in particular energy produced by resources from the estate itself, these are the hard and fast guidelines moving the transformation project forward. Just as nature does, Château de La Chaize seeks to create virtuous circles and make all its activities nature-centric.

More so than simply gaining a label, Château de La Chaize seeks to be exemplary, and bases all its choices and decisions on this quest for excellence.

Working with nature and the provisions it so generously gives will magnify the production of these vineyards. The subsoils have been analyzed by the team working with Lydia and Claude Bourguignon. Climates have been identified for each of the locations and exposures of the parcels, and upcoming vinifications will bring out the best in the natural dispositions of each parcel.

Ground analysis have been made by Emmanuel Bourguignon
Picto Lachaize
OUR PROJECT

INNOVATION ROOTED IN THE PAST!

This does not mean that modern technology has been banned from Domaine du Château de la Chaize. Quite the contrary. Modern technology has enabled the finest analyses of soil composition, identification and characterization of the different climates present throughout the estate. Technology will also be used in barrel fermentation in the cellar to ensure ideal conditions for vinification and maturing of each cuvee, at all times.

However, innovation will also consist in going back to the sources of grape production. Soil improvement will exclusively use natural resources, whether they be mineral, plant or animal resources.

The different lands around the vineyards themselves will be called upon to grow the plants whose fermentation will provide different types of humus to seed the composts for each soil type and each parcel type. Total respect for and optimization of the biology of our terroirs.

Back to controlled grass cover and mulching, combined with inputs of organic matter based on soil composition – to allow for better control of soil surface moisture, better adaptation to drought episodes, greater inertia to nutritional deficits and better erosion resistance. Diversity, the wealth of all the mineral, plant and animal species present on the vast estate, is the driving force behind intense biological surface activity that will push natural deterioration of any pollutants.

EMBLEMATIC GRAPE PRODUCTION

This is the beginning of a far-reaching undertaking. Transforming an estate of this scope to an organic vineyard does not happen overnight. It cannot be dictated from on high, nor improvised. A ten-year calendar has been defined for the transformation and reorganization of the vines to reach the level set by the Gruy family and the teams working on the estate.

Château de la Chaize has everything it needs to become an international symbol. Passion, determination and the resources devoted by the Gruy family are sure indicators of present and future success.

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