The Duhard collection is exceptional and few Domains or Trading Houses in the world can present such a selection.

The creation of our collection would be almost impossible to recreate today.

Why?

Why is our collection exceptional?

There are several reasons for this.

Transmission

The first chance of Ambacia Cellars is that the company has been passed on from generation to generation with the entire stock.
Often, when a property is sold, the wines are divided among the sellers.
Today it would be inconceivable to dismantle this collection. At Amabcia Cellars, we have the immense responsibility of making wines that live up to the standards of their predecessors in order to continue the work begun two centuries ago.

Philosophy

The Duhards had their own philosophy. It is enough to have known Michel Duhard to realize it from the first moments.
The quality of the wine comes first. Nature sometimes spoils us.
It is up to the man to know how to extract the best of the fruit, then to raise it as one raises his children.
The love of their profession, patience and optimal storage conditions are essential to make these wines travel from another era.

Expertise

Moreover, the Duhard family, perhaps because of their skills in cooperage, were able to make high quality wines.
The methods of wine making have evolved considerably since our first bottle of Vouvray 1874.
Imagine that at that time, the impressionist movement was just emerging, it was the gold rush in California, the Eiffel Tower did not exist, Louis Pasteur's research on fermentation earned him the Copley Medal, awarded by the Royal Society in London.
At the time, it was a miracle to produce a wine that could survive the centuries.

The nature

The years follow each other and are not alike. In spite of a serious work every year, nature always has the last word. To make a great vintage, know-how is not enough. It is Mother Nature who decides. It is up to the winemaker to respect and preserve her.
In the Duhard collection, we go back in time to 1874.
Some years are missing, so you will go to 1893, 1929, 1933...
From 1945, our collection is almost complete!

The chenin

Chenin is one of the greatest grape varieties in the world. This extraordinary grape variety allows the elaboration of dry, ½ dry, sweet, mellow, syrupy, sparkling or traditional method wines.
To our knowledge, there is no other grape variety that is as versatile depending on the terroir and the year. Harvested at maturity, it offers high enough sugar levels to make great wines while keeping a nice level of acidity. In spite of our Burgundian friends, chenin has an extraordinary ageing capacity, far superior to the 1er and Grands Crus. The chenin vineyard starts at the Ambacia cellars in Amboise and goes down the river to the neighboring Anjou.

Conditions

Our cellars are ideal for maturing great wines. The tufa stone keeps the humidity. Thus our cellars keep a hygrometry of 90% all year long and a constant temperature of 12°C +-1°C whatever the outside conditions.