Chateau d’Epire Savennieres Le Parc (750ml)

Château d’Épiré was been a family estate since the 17th century.  The present day winery is located in a Roman Church, built by the Cistercian monks of the Saint Nicholas’ abbey of Angers in the 12th century.  When the new Church of Épiré was built (and financed by Elisabeth de Las Cases) in 1884, René Bizard bought the old one in 1898 and turned it into a cellar in 1906.  The family awknowledges the privilege of crafting wines in such an extraordinary space.  It is in fact, an ideal place for wine making; the thickness of the walls (nearly a meter wide) halp maintain a consistent temperature inside which is perfect for wine producing, aging and preserving.  Moreover, given the height difference the church is half buried. It’s an advantage in Savennieres considering how hard it is to dig into shale and most cellars are on ground level. The press is at the top of the slope. During the harvests the juices flow down into the tanks by gravity which preserves the quality of the wine must.