History
A history of almost a thousand years
From the monks of Pontlevoy abbey to Château de Thésée: eight centuries of vines on the same hillside.
The history of this vineyard dates back to the 12th century, when Theobald IV, Count of Blois, granted the church of Thésée and its outbuildings to the abbey of Pontlevoy, including the hillside on which the present château stands.
The monks then began to farm the hillside known as “Le Bout” — the far end of the cultivated land, where it met the Choussy forest. The word can still be read on the Cassini map at the end of the 18th century, before it became “Le Bouc”. Numerous archives, some dating from the time of the French Revolution, bear witness to the site’s unbroken winegrowing past.
Key dates
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1144
Theobald IV, Count of Blois, grants the church of Thésée and its outbuildings to the abbey of Pontlevoy, including the château’s hillside.
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12th – 13th century
The monks have cellars dug to gather the wine harvested by the sharecroppers; only the monks have the right to sell it. The cellar still lies beneath the château.
Estate archives; the current site dates the cellar to the 13th century.
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1245
The hillside’s winegrowing vocation is attested: the monks plant the first vines there. The 1245 cuvée pays tribute to them.
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1638
The monks buy the Haut Chesneau farmstead from Pardou du Plessis, a merchant in Vineuil, in the parish of Monthou-sur-Cher.
Estate archives
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1793
The estate is sold as national property. Its new owner, M. Rouet-Chevallier, has the present château built over the old cellars, builds a wine press there and continues to grow vines.
Estate archives
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1917
The American army sets up a camp on five hectares of the property.
Estate archives
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2022
Philippe Gaillard and François Gilbert acquire Domaine du Bouc and rename it Château de Thésée.
Beneath the château
The monks’ cellar
Stone pillars, a paved floor: dug by the monks to gather the wine from the hillside, the cellar still supports the château built above it after the Revolution.
Private archives
“Le Château du Bouc”
The Domaine du Bouc, owned by the Monks of the Abbey of Pontlevoy from the twelfth century onwards, was no doubt the cradle of winegrowing in Thésée.
Extract from a typewritten document kept at the estate.
Today
An exceptional site, on one of the most prestigious terroirs of the Cher valley.
Discover the 1245 cuvéePage updated on 11 October 2026