Chateau de Targe Saumur Champigny Cuvee Ferry 2002

In 1655, Phelippeaux de Ponchartrain, the personal secretary to King Louis XIV of France, acquired a hunting lodge near the forests of the Royal Abbey of Fontevraud, along with the hilltop next to it. Since then, the property has been kept in the family, and each generation contributed to its construction and reputation. Henri Allain-Targé brought French politicians of the 3rd Republic like Gambetta and Villemain to the Chateau. Then, with the marriage of Geneviève Allain-Targé to Charles Ferry, brother of Jules Ferry (well known in France for his efforts in making school mandatory and free for all French youth), the Chateau became the privileged residence of the Ferry’s. Fresnette – their only descendant – and her husband Edgard Pisani, then Minister under de Gaulle, together restored the Château after all the damage done by the two World Wars. Their son, Edouard Pisani-Ferry, agricultural engineer in winemaking, inherited the Château in 1976. He started by building a modern winery with thermo-regulated tanks, and then in the 1990’s expanded the vineyard by buying and exchanging terroirs in order to have the quality of land he thought the Château deserved. During this time, he also started to utilize environment-friendly methods for cultivation and vinification. Since 2000, he has been a member of the Terra Vitis association, which is committed to sustainable agriculture. Today, the estate covers an area of about 24 hectares (60 acres).