An estate

An estate

Between Loire and Sologne

Between Loire and Sologne, in the midst of the prestigious Loire Châteaux, the estate covers some thirty hectares in a multicoloured landscape of vines, forests, grasslands and moors where the biodiversity is naturally rich. Lionel Gosseaume and his team endeavour to express the very best of Oisly’s unique terroir each and every day. A terroir where Sauvignon Blanc flourishes magnificently to produce elegant Touraine and Touraine-Oisly wines.

The terroir

Between Loire in the north and Cher in the south, between Chambord in the east and Chenonceau in the west, the estate is set in the heart of a little farming region known as Sologne Viticole in the département of Loir-et-Cher. It’s here that you find the Registered Designations of Origin (AOCs) Touraine, Cheverny, Cour-Cheverny and the latest addition: Touraine-Oisly.

Carte de la Vallée de la Loire montrant l'emplacement de l'appellation Touraine Oisly et le terroir du vigneron Lionel Gosseaume, avec les communes de Oisly, Chémery, Choussy, Le-Controis-en-Sologne, Couddes, Méhers, Sassay, Soings-en-Sologne, et Saint-Romain-sur-Cher.

This huge plateau, stretching between Her Majesty the Loire and its tributary the Cher, comprises a succession of wide undulations limited by small, gently sloping hills. Soils range from stony sand to pebbles with clay by way of calcareous sand. The estate’s soils are mostly sandy-clay and are largely insensitive to summertime hydric stress. The climate is a mix of oceanic and continental influences. Ideal conditions for production of highly aromatic wines.

The Touraine designation, created in 1939 under the name Coteaux de Touraine, stretches across the départements of Loir-et-Cher and Indre-et-Loire. Its white wines, produced from the Sauvignon grape variety, have gained renown well beyond its borders. The Touraine-Oisly designation was created in 2011 and is exclusively dedicated to white wine, elaborated with Sauvignon Blanc. This new designation recognises this unique terroir’s remarkable quality and its harmonious marriage with Sauvignon Blanc.

Paysage naturel de Touraine Oisly montrant des vignes verdoyantes et un chemin sinueux, illustrant le terroir où est cultivé le Sauvignon.
Sarment de vigne avec jeune pousse, montrant les détails de la croissance des vignes dans le vignoble de Lionel Gosseaume.
Piquet de vigne en bois avec fil de soutien, entouré de feuilles vertes et de grappes de raisin, illustrant les techniques de culture dans le vignoble de Lionel Gosseaume.
vendange-vins-touraine

The people involved

Lionel Gosseaume cultivated his first vines somewhat late in life, as he was approaching forty and after spending long years far away from the family vineyard. The son and grandson of Touraine winegrowers, he tried to resist following in the family footsteps, but to no avail! The vine and wine bug finally got him: he took the plunge in 2007, first of all in a small way, keeping a parallel activity, but finally going all out during the 2010 grape harvest! Lionel is a son of the soil. As a child, his first steps among the vines were on the estate run by his parents, Danielle and Pierre, in the municipality of Choussy, where he still cultivates a few parcels of vines.
Today, Janet, Lucie, Alexis, Anthony and Julien have joined him for better or worse! Not forgetting Christian’s willing helping hand whenever his elders’ experience is required.

Vignerons taillant les sarments de vignes anciennes dans le vignoble de Lionel Gosseaume, illustrant les pratiques traditionnelles de viticulture sur le terroir de Touraine-Oisly.

The vineyard

These days, it covers 35 hectares, located in 5 of the Touraine-Oisly designation’s 9 municipalities: Choussy, the family’s original municipality; Thenay, the farthest west; Oisly, the well-named; Sassay, the farthest east, and Contres…

Although the soils are mostly so-called “Sologne” sands, the most widespread Touraine-Oisly soil, there are a few parcels with Bournais Perrucheux (clay and flint mingled with Miocene sands) and Perruches (stony, flinty clay combined with silica).

The vines, the oldest of which were planted by Lionel’s grandfather, Paul Gosseaume, in 1957, give pride of place to Sauvignon Blanc, king of Touraine-Oisly’s grape varieties. But diversity has always been in the region’s DNA: Meslier-Saint François, Menu-Pineau, Chenin and Chardonnay, Gamay, Côt Garnon, Pineau d’Aunis and Cabernet Franc are also cultivated on the estate and produce unique cuvees.