The Gamay, a red grape variety with white juice, is sometimes called "Gamay Beaujolais". Excluded from the Côte d’Or by an edict of "Philippe le Hardi" in 1395, the Gamay adapts to many soils and grows under very different climates. In France, it stretches over 33,000 hectares.

Raised on granitic soils (sand and gravel) this grape variety produces generous, fine and light wines with lush, bouquet (raspberry, aromatic plant, spices). The Gamay is an early and fertile variety with medium bunches, tight berries and very short peduncles. The stalk is green, the grapes are medium but approximately bigger than the Pinot Noir’s, with regular and ovoid-shaped berries, covered by an abundant and blue-whitish powder layer.

In Centre-Loire, the Gamay represents 10% of the area planted with vines. It is raised in the Coteaux du Giennois vineyards and at Châteaumeillant where it is blended with the Pinot Noir.





Known in the region of Burgundy since the XIVth century, this grape variety is certainly more ancient. The bunch of the Pinot Noir is small and compact (pine-shaped) with little tight berries (ovoid-shaped) and with a thin and smooth blue-black-coloured skin.

The juice of the Pinot Noir is colourless. The maceration of the skin (that contains the coloured-pigments) with the juice during the alcoholic fermentation gives the Pinot Noir its nice cherry-red colour with a slightly purple tinge.

Because of its relative "fragility" it requires very specific production conditions including a climate neither too warm nor too cold and well drained soils (particularly chalky ones) in order to achieve its best expression.

For young wines, the bouquet is marked by Morello cherry, violet, wood notes and with aging it is marked by aromas of game, truffle and cherries in brandy.

Grown in Centre-Loire for a very long time, the Pinot Noir now represents 20% of the area planted with vines. It is the grape variety of Sancerre, Menetou-Salon and Reuilly wines. It also enters in the blending with the Gamay of Châteaumeillant and the Coteaux du Giennois.





The Pinot Gris is another red grape variety with white juice from Burgundy, but with a clearer colour. This early grape variety with small bunches, tight berries, a thin skin and a very sweet and perfumed flesh when it is fully ripe, is not very widespread in the vineyards of Centre-Loire. Vinified in the manner of a white wine, it produces a very clear and particular rosé wine with discreet aromas and a remarkable delicacy. It is a long-term cellaring wine in which aromas evolve toward candied fruits and honey.

The Pinot Gris is exclusively produced in Reuilly and Châteaumeillant (45 hectares are planted).