The South of Touraine and the North of Poitou, where the Château de Marçay is located, enjoyed prosperity less than a century ago thanks to truffle-growing. This godsend saved many wine-growers who turned truffle-growers after giving up the vines which had recently been destroyed by phylloxera.
The Richelieu market, the famous city of the Cardinal 15 kilometres from Marçay, traded up to 20 tonnes of truffles at the end of the 19th century, and this until 1920, which marked the decline of truffle-growing, as the truffle fields had been abandoned when the men were mobilised during the 1st World War.
For around 20 years, enthusiasts have been restoring the abandoned truffle fields and very slowly, almost discreetly, the truffle has reappeared at the Richelieu markets. Of course, production is on a much smaller scale but new truffle oak planters are increasing the size of the truffle-growing area of our region every year.
Aware of the economic benefits and respectful of the local traditions, we naturally thought that the Château de Marçay should have its own truffle fields.
So we planted an initial plot of 130 mycorrhized oak seedlings in December 2002 and a second plot of 400 seedlings the following winter.
We are impatiently awaiting the first harvest to share its benefits with our customers and also to organise the truffle cookery lessons given by our chef.
Truffles
