Côte Roannaise

Grower Profiles


Church steeple - Saint-André-d'Apchon

Thierry Bonneton
Thierry Bonneton comes across as being something of a simpleton, but I am assured that is not the case. He is a native of Saint-André-d’Apchon, an apchonnais, apparently, but he is not the son of a vigneron. His career started with Hubert Mons, the affineur responsible for the chariot de fromages at Maison Troisgros, but his ambition was to work the land and sell his own produce; living in a village that is surrounded by vines made his decision to become a vigneron somewhat easy. He created his domaine in 1988, starting with 2.5 hectares of rented vines, the production of which he quickly sold to local restaurants. Needing to feed his new family, he increased his vineyard holdings to ten hectares, including two in the lieu-dit of Bouthéran. His youngest vines were planted in 2003, but pride goes to the 90-plus year old gobelet trained Gamay situated on the red gravel soils on the lower slope of Bouthéran.

WINE OVERVIEW:
The cellar is a purpose built facility in the valley that dissects the village, close to his house and at the foot of the famous Bouthéran slope. It appears a large building for what it needs to accommodate, with the main floor area lined up with concrete tanks. He makes three different red wines; the inevitable fruité and a separate ‘Réserve’, but he is one of the four growers who commercialise the Bouthéran vineyard as a separate bottling. 

THE WINES:
Despite having some of the most distinguished looking vines in the appellation, I found the wines a disappointing; hard, tannic, rustic and lacking any sense of charm.

Thierry Bonneton
La Prébande
Saint-André d’Apchon
T: + 33 4 77 65 85 40
F: + 33 4 77 65 94 72
mutib@wanadoo.fr

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