We first met Philippe Chigard at Peter Hahn’s vineyard where he was working Peter’s vineyard using his beautiful Percheron horses.
Philippe works the tops sites of many of the top growers in the Vouvray and Montlouis sur Loire appellations and also trains other people how to use horses in the vineyard at the Lycée viticole in Amboise. To date he’s trained around 100 people. Some have stayed in the Loire, many have set up their own businesses in Burgundy and Bordeaux.
It’s a beautiful sight to see. The connection between man or woman and animal in the vineyard. The work is precise and requires patience on both sides. Every day is different Philippe will tell you. The horses have good days and bad, the people too! It’s a true partnership, working together.
Using horses is of course nothing new. It’s what happened in days gone past before tractors were around. It’s expensive for growers and takes a lot more time (what a tractor could do in half an hour would take a horse a day).
There are advantages. You can take a horse onto a vineyard when the weather is very wet without any risk to your soil (taking a tractor in the vineyard after heavy rain risks damaging the soil structure). You are much more in touch with the soil and environment and there is no carbon footprint to worry about. It’s a good way to preserve old vineyards where vines are rambling, old and gnarled as you can work around them (tractors can damage vines passing by).
Alongside this business Philippe has a teeny vineyard that he runs with his partner Claude. Just 800 ares of land in several tiny parcels that produce around 4,000 bottles a year.
He makes a petillant naturel and still wine from 125 year old Chenin vines (in good years a sweet Chenin too) and a red from Cabernet Franc. All in the Vin de France category the wines are made with minimum intervention in the winery and no mechanisation whatsoever in the vineyard. The large red table that gives its name to the domaine, nestles among the ancient vines jostling alongside fruit trees and wild flowers, herbs and vegetables. Half vineyard half garden, it’s pretty magical and you would be welcome to sit among the vines sharing a glass with friends yourself (if you can find it!).
It’s unlikely that you’ll find a bottle outside France as production is so small. We regularly show La Table Rouge during our own tastings and you can find it in some of the best local restaurants in the Loire and Paris.
Each wine has a different Tomten on the label. Philippe encountered the Tomtens while in Sweden and the images were drawn using a vine cutting. Tomtens are rather like brownies or elves and are deeply engrained in Swedish culture. They look over the crops and family and bring good luck.
We’re particularly loving their latest red, a blend of Cabernet Franc and Pineau d’Aunis. A lovely mix of bramble fruit and pepper spice, it’s a delightful wine.
Philippe and Claude’s wines are sold in the Vin de France category. This category gives them the freedom to work in the way they want. They don’t sign up for any certifications nor have they applied to have their wines labelled appellation. You won’t find a vineyard more natural than this!
Come and see for yourself!
