Clos Rougeard

Clos Rougeard was established in 1664 in the village of Chacé. The Foucault family managed the estate for eight generations, with brothers Charly and Nady Foucault assuming leadership in 1969. Under their tenure, the domaine gained international attention for its site-specific wines and refusal to use modern chemical interventions. Following the death of Charly Foucault in 2015, the estate was sold in 2017 to the Bouygues family, who are also the owners of Château Montrose in Bordeaux. The operation is currently managed by Cyril Chirouze, with Pierre Graffeuille serving as director.

The estate manages 15 hectares of vineyards within the Saumur and Saumur-Champigny appellations. These holdings consist of 13.5 hectares of Cabernet Franc and 1.5 hectares of Chenin Blanc. The vineyard plots are situated on soils of tuffeau limestone, clay, and wind-blown sands. The Foucault family pioneered organic viticulture in the region, avoiding synthetic pesticides and herbicides since the 1970s. Winemaking practices remain traditional, utilizing natural yeast fermentation and long aging periods. The wines are aged for 18 to 24 months in oak barrels within deep tuffeau caves located seven meters underground. A new winery facility was completed in 2023 to provide modern equipment while preserving these subterranean aging conditions.

Clos Rougeard produces four primary cuvées that are sold through selective allocations. The red wine lineup includes Le Clos, which is a blend from 15 different plots, and two single-vineyard bottlings. Les Poyeux is sourced from a parcel with sandy soils, while Le Bourg comes from a plot of vines older than 70 years on shallow clay-limestone. The estate also produces a dry white wine called Brézé, made from Chenin Blanc grown on a limestone hill of the same name. These wines are frequently cited by critics as the benchmark for Cabernet Franc in the Loire Valley.