With such a fine, rambling chateau, complete with medieval keep and a delightful Renaissance gateway, it is only fitting that the inhabitants of Chateau de Tracy should be nothing less than nobility. And indeed they are; revitalised in the 1950s by Comte Alain d'Estutt d'Assay, the Chateau de Tracy is now cared for by his son, Henri, a passionate vigneron. Henri continues the long tradition of habitation and viticulture at the Chateau, the family archives indicating that vineyards were established here as long ago as 1396.

The Chateau itself is situated on a prominent spur of rock overlooking the Loire, not far from the riverside commune of Tracy-sur-Loire. The vineyards, just a few miles east of Sancerre, qualify for the Pouilly-Fumé appellation, where the wines can vary from attractively grassy, grapefruity expressions of Sauvignon Blanc to smokier, more stony examples. The wines of Chateau de Tracy have always been in the former style, demonstrating a fine, crisp freshness backed up by a wealth of grassy, gooseberry fruit. This precision comes from the flinty and fossil-rich limestone soils that surround the Chateau, where most of the vines are situated. Henri d'Estutt d'Assay maintains the superb quality of these wines by vineyard management methods as close to organic viticulture as can realistically be achieved; a relatively simple achievement for the sun-baked vineyards of the Mediterranean, but no mean feat in the frequently cool, damp climes of the upper reaches of the Loire Valley.