Antoine Cristal, from commercial traveler to winemaker...
Antoine Cristal was born in Maine-et-Loire, in Turquant in 1837. In his first life, he was a commercial traveler in hosiery. His savings, accumulated over a long period of time, finally allowed him to become a partner in the company, and then the sole owner. He had a good sense of business, and his mind allowed him to meet the personalities of his time, Jules Ferry, Gambetta, Clemenceau, or the sculptor Jules Desbois.
And then, at the age of fifty, he was able to realize an old dream: he bought the Château de Parnay and its vineyards... Here he was, a winemaker!
And, in this field too, his agile and innovative spirit works wonders.
Phylloxera ravaged the region. He was the first to have the idea of using American plans as rootstocks. He tore out all the diseased hundred-year-old stocks and proceeded to graft new, healthy stocks. And, in the process, he created a grafting school, which finally contributed to save the vines of Anjou and then of Tours.
He was also the first to lay wire along the vines, he equipped himself with mechanical equipment that he developed himself, he modernized his troglodyte cellars of more than 8 meters high...
And, at the end of the day, prizes and gold medals are pouring in!
"A cool foot, a sunny stomach
There is a particularly unusual and ingenious innovation that can still be seen today. It is based on his sense of observation and his ingenuity.
He saw that the foot of a vine is happy when it can stay in a cool and humid place. He also saw that the bunches of grapes are happy when they can remain exposed to the warm rays of the sun.
How to reconcile these two seemingly irreconcilable demands?
It's not very difficult, but you have to have the idea: you build a wall, 2 meters high, 60 centimeters thick, along the row of vines, so that the vines face north. At 50 centimeters from the ground, we make a hole in the wall, and we pass the plan through it so that it grows on the other side... to the south! Good idea, isn't it?
To complete the picture, he protects the whole of this half-hectare plot of land from the wind with a 2.5-meter high surrounding wall.
This "Clos d'Entre les Murs", unique in the world, today classified as a historical monument, you can visit it, and, of course, taste the wine produced, of an astonishing quality!
The tastings are accompanied by fouées, rillettes, pâtés, in a Saumurois spirit!
Château de Parnay
22, route de Saumur
49730 Parnay
Phone : 09 67 86 77 59
https://chateaudeparnay.fr/
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