Bourgueil "Cuvée Prestige" Domaine des Chesnaies 1995

On the right bank of the Loire, upstream from Tours, the vineyard of Bourgueil (classified as an AOC since 1937) encompasses 1,350 hectares mainly divided between the municipalities of Bourgueil, Benais, Restigné, Ingrandes-de-Touraine and Saint-Patrice. Backing onto the south-facing hillside slope, the vines are divided into different soil types. At the bottom of the slope, sandy and gravelly soils are to be found, of a siliceous-clay nature (old alluvium from the Loire), carved into terraces. On the slopes of the hill itself, clay-limestone soil is laid over tuffeau, limestone subsoil in which a number of deep caves have been carved, and the source of the stone used in many local buildings. Closer to the river, amidst recent alluvium deposits, little islands of gravel continue to exist, known as 'montilles'.
The tuffeau soil is notably present in Benais and to the north of Restigné, with the rest of the 'appellation mainly made up of siliceous-clay gravel (more siliceous in the lower section). These two different soil types create two different styles of wine, denser and fleshier on the tuffeau and lighter and fruitier on the gravel.
The wines of Bourgueil  express aromas of flowers (rose, poppy, violet), fruits (Morello cherry, raspberry, redcurrant) and spices (pepper, liquorice, hazelnuts).