saumur

TASTY ‘LITTLE’ SAUMUR FROM A TOP SOURCE

The central figure in this story is Arnaud Lambert, author of the Chateau de Brézé Cremant we sold a while back and the owner of forty hectares of vineyards of serious vineyards in the Loire. The holdings are principally within three communes: two within the Saumur-Champigny appellation (Montsoreau and Saint-Cyr, on opposite sides of the appellation—north and south, respectively) and the resurrected, historic commune, Brézé, on the southernmost border of the AOP Saumur-Champigny.

Lambert bottles nearly twenty different cuvees under Chateau de Brézé and his own eponymous label. He is highly respected in the region and has garnered some strong press for his still wines from a number of writers, particularly the reds. So when Lambert does something, we pay attention. This cuvee is new to us and a little less specific than most of his work which focuses on specific sites. That’s fine by us as the combination of Lambert’s skills, the quality of his sites and the riper 2022 vintage combine to make an engaging, complex, rather accessible window into this producer’s style.

As we have said many times, we are de facto fans of Chenin Blanc and consider it one of the world’s great whites by virtue of not only it’s quality when it is at its best, but also its versatility to perform beautifully in every expression from bone dry to exotic, botrytised dessert wines. This one is dry and fairly easy going as Chenin Blanc goes, making it a perfect ambassador for both Chenin and Lambert.

The nose on the Arnaud Lambert Saumur Blanc Les Parcelles 2022 is an inviting mixture of classic Chenin with notes of orange, peach, and quince with streaks of earth and chalky minerality. All of this comes through on the palate in a dry but fruit focused style, with a rounded, supple palate feel and without the sometimes searing acidity that can make this varietal difficult for some folks to appreciate. Because of Lambert’s approach to Chenin emphasizing the varietal purity and unique terroir of Saumur, and this wine’s relatively gentler demeanor make it a wine to win friends for the region.

The modest fare ($21.98) for this blend of a variety of properties (hence the title Les Parcelles) also make this a marvelous option for a broader range of people and more food applications. It is particularly good for lighter Asian and fish dishes as well as offering up a lovely aperitif option that, while it is an easy approach to the varietal, it is definitely not the ‘same old thing.’ Holiday ham? You bet! Classy, workhorse, versatile Chenin from an impeccable source, yeah we got that.

FUN LITTLE VALUE FINDS

As we have said, we taste constantly, without any agenda. We’re just looking for good things that fill a need and deliver value at whatever its price level is. It’s a lot harder to find things that excite us in the under $20 category for a variety of reasons. But we don’t view something as ‘good‘ simply because it isn’t ‘bad‘. . For us something needs to not only be a solid example of its genre, there has to be some interest and character to it. That is particularly difficult as you get down into lower price brackets, but it does happen. We found a couple of fun things this week that had distinctive character and represent their category well while selling for a song.

White Bordeaux isn’t the first thing on people’s minds but a good one can be quite serviceable and versatile. The Domaine de Cheval Blanc 2019 was a new label for us and kind of a surprise. Certainly, there’s an interesting story somewhere regarding the name since it is also the handle of one of Saint Emilion’s elite producers. But here it’s about the juice.

This 42 hectare estate in Entre-Deux-Mers produces both red and white Bordeaux, and the third generation owners are currently at the helm. This snappy little white is a blend of 40% Sauvignon, 40% Semillon, and 20% Muscadelle from vines averaging 23 years of age. The Semillon lends some texture and the Muscadelle some spice to the aromatics, but the Sauvignon is clearly in the driver’s seat with ripe grapefruit in the nose and flavors.

The surprise isn’t the expected clean, bright flavors, but the depth, volume, delivery for a wine of such humble origins. The fruit, personality, and unexpected charm got our attention, particularly for the fare. It’s no ordinary $10 wine in this vintage ($9.98 actually).

There isn’t much of a story to the Marcel Martin Chinon Les Bernieres 2019. It is a wing of a large negociant producer that makes several labels. We taste a lot of wines like this and you don’t hear about them. We don’t know the background here so we have to figure that the 2019 vintage had a lot to do with this wine but what a joy to drink!

There have been few vintages where the Cabernet Franc gets this ripe and plush in the Loire Valley but 2019 is one of them, reminding us of epic years like 2005, 2009, and 2010. We have had examples at every price range but something this friendly and generous at this kind of price ($11.98) was truly surprising. A little bit of pepper in the nose, a hint of refreshing green and tobacco to the finish, but the middle is stuffed with broad, engaging, supple blackberry fruit. It’s Chinon in a whole new light and scores high on the pleasure scale.

The Cave des Vignerons de Saumur has been on our radar for a long tim and was a staple at the old location. Ye ah, it’s a cooperative, but one that has the ability to produce honest and tasty examples of their terroir at surprisingly attractive prices fairly regularly. The operation dates back to 1957, and they bottle most things under the title of a particular lieu dit (named vineyard)

The Cave des Vignerons de Saumur Saumur Blanc Les Epinats 2020 is from a vineyard that is located on a plateau on gently sloping north-facing hills. The large nearby forests serve as a windbreak and have an influence on the microclimate and two types of soil ( shallow, pebbly soil called terre à silex (fl and less pebbly soil with more clay) create diverse fruit to energize the blend. It’s 100% Chenin Blanc with the nose and flavor showing lime, orange, and peach with flecks of minerality and a hint of sweetness to the finish. Textbook fresh, engaging Loire Chenin for a low price($11.98).

The Cave des Vignerons de Saumur Saumur Les Vignoles 2019 comes from a south facing vineyard looking over the Loire River. The soil here sits atop carbonate formations of Turonian limestone. It is mostly shallow, with soft limestone, resulting in a moderate, but fairly regular water supply, ideal for growing high quality Cabernet Franc. The average age of the vines are 55 years. Nature was kind to the reds in the Loire in this vintage and this one packs plenty of dark red and black fruits along with element of mineral and, again, an unexpected tender fleshiness for the genre. A steal at $14.98.

Serious Saumur

We often make the joke that if a purveyor brings an average wine buyer three wines, he will buy one. If they bring him 10, he will buy one. We are geared a little differently. We don’t believe in token buys. If we taste 20 wines and aren’t thoroughly jazzed with any of them, we buy zero. By the same token, if someone brings in three exceptional wines, we’ll buy all three. That happened on the day we tasted the Haut Baigneux wines. The purveyor also had in tow the Yvonne Saumur Blanc 2015, which thrilled even given the stiff competition.

There has been vineyards around this chateau in Parnay since the Middle-ages and the building itself dates back to the 1500s. It was abandoned when Yvonne and Jean-François Lamunière took over here in 1997 with the intent of revitalizing the estate. Matheiu Vallee took over in 2007 and kept their name on the property as an hommage to the work the Lamunières had done. The property has been organic since 1997 and went biodynamic in 2012.

There are 3 hectares of Chenin Blanc in clay-over-tuffeau (the fine grained local limestone). Perhaps a little more intentional gravitas here, the wine is fermented slowly over four months and malolactic occurs in oak, 30% new, and it is bottled unfiltered. Oak doesn’t always play well with Chenin but it is clearly enlightened and perfectly integrated in this case. There are a few more ‘bass’ notes to the quince and yellow pit fruit flavors, with a little more Chardonnay like feel in the mouth and a salty character that is somewhat Chablis like. Serious stuff here.