Charles Joguet, our artist/vintner from Chinon, survives from one year to the next, always on the verge of bankruptcy. Years ago he was swindled by the company that constructed a set of fermentation vats. While he was figuring out how to fight the wolf at the door, along came a friend who showed him a piece of property for sale.
     “I had heard of the place,” Charles told me recently. “It was called Le Chêne Vert, or The Green Oak, named after an 800-year-old oak there, which was cut down about 400 years ago. So I went to look it over. I remember that afternoon, there was a splendid sunset illuminating the old city of Chinon. I knew that Le Chêne Vert was one of the two parcels originally planted at Chinon by the monks in the eleventh century. They introduced the Cabernet Franc here, and they knew what they were doing because Le Chêne Vert is certainly the most extraordinary site for the vine at Chinon.
     “I saw the ancient cellar, the soil, the vines, but half the property was grown over wild, the other half in untended old vines. What a job, I thought, to put it back into shape, because the terrain is steep and rocky, very difficult to work. None of the other winegrowers were interested in it.
     “It was to be auctioned off. It is an old custom here, une vente à la bougie; a candle burns on a piece of wood, and when it goes out the auction is over. It takes two or three minutes.
     “I was curious to see what the land would go for, so I went to the auction. The only serious bidder wanted it as pasture for his sheep! No one thought I would buy it, especially me. At the last moment I opened my mouth and voilà, the candle went out. I said to myself, ‘Zut, where will I find the money?’ It was cheap, but when you are broke nothing is cheap.”
     Now, several years later, Charles says his gamble paid off and Le Chêne Vert will produce his finest Chinon. Start a collection of vintages with this fabulous 1985. It has a dense, complex nose, lots of flavor and character. There is no other wine like it.

** This passage comes from our June 1987 newsletter. **