Visit our cellars
A new tour: an original concept combining art and history. The guided tour takes place in three stages on a part of the 15 km of galleries.
A view of the valley of the kings: an exceptional site
The guided tour starts off outside. A balcony overlooking the Cher River provides visitors with an extensive view of the famous “Valley of the Kings”, equally called “The Garden of France”. This exceptional panorama displays all of the landscape’s typical characteristics: its hillsides, troglodyte dwellings and inland waterways. Indeed, the Loire and its tributaries are one of the reasons, leading to the plantation and the development of vineyards along these rivers. Loaded inside the cargo hold of freight river boats, tuffeau stone was routed along the Cher and local rivers towards building sites in the Loire Valley and neighboring regions. This waterway was equally largely used for the transportation of wines, before the construction of railway lines – an initiative that the Monmousseau family took part in.
Luminous cellars
The history of the underground quarries is tightly bound to that of the surrounding famous castles. As tuffeau is a good quality stone it was used as a construction material during the height of the French Renaissance. Visitors make their way into a labyrinth of tuffeau stone galleries. Their attention is immediately drawn to a universe of shapes created by workers when they extracted stones to build monuments and castles in the Loire Valley.
Beyond the curve, visitors are then overwhelmed by a surprising exhibition. Luminous tapestries, created by two renowned artists using pictorial stained glass techniques, reveal a unique vision of the great Loire Valley castles, thereby retracing the history and the origins of these cellars. This original and unknown universe, featuring symphonic music created by Selva De Mar, takes us on a historic journey along the river. NaDa (Nathalie DAHON) and ReNo MENAT, the two artists of Monmousseau’s cellars, were inspired by this fantastic rocky universe and as a result expressed themselves in three different ways: creation, installation and performance, using two chief improvised modes of expression: video and back projected paintings. The primitive character of the paintings mixed with the precision offered by video, as well as the warmth of the pictorial representation, associated with the finesse of digital images, produces a captivating hybridization.
Traditional method : The secret to fine sparkling wines.
After this dream, visitors discover the secrets to a delicious fine sparkling wine, most especially the famous “Méthode Traditionnelle”, which is at the origin of Monmousseau’s fine reputation, since 1886. They will learn all about bubbles, stirring and disgorging, etc… The art of assembling added to the area’s different soil types and the diversity of the grape varieties such as Chenin, Cabernet Franc, and most especially Cot (Malbec) guarantees Monmousseau’s specific know-how: premium, fine and elegant sparkling wines, boasting character. Note that Alcide Monmousseau took over these cellars after they were abandoned as quarries in 1886. His nephew and successor, discovered similarities between the terroirs of Champagne and Touraine. As a result, he decided to produce a wine according to the “Méthode de Dom Pérignon”. As of 1930, the great sparkling wines of Justin Marcel were distributed throughout Europe and served at the dinner table of King Gustav IV Adolf of Sweden.
Quality commitment
Alongside this new trail , the cave of Monmousseau are committed to a quality approach recognized by the State and to strengthen the level of welcome and service delivered to visitors.
