Before the Covid chaos, we found the gem of Loire valley during a visit to France. It ticked all our boxes on what good wine should be: Pure expression of fruit, approachable and terroir-driven, and importantly for me personally, that you don't want to stop drinking! We would taste plenty of wines every time we head to the 'Motherland'. Lambert's wines stood way out that he has became our first and only Wine producer from Loire!
We are well aware of Saumur-Champigny and Brézé regions thanks to the legendary Domaine Clos Rougeard. These represent two of the very best terroir which Cabernet France & Chenin Blanc can fully express in the entire Loire Valley. However, a large fraction of the current plots are owned by a big cooperation and the output of the wines are blended. The onset of new and young wine makers including Arnaud Lambert seeks to change the norm with the creation of single parcel plots to express the terroirs of Saumur and Brézé as best as possible.
In 2009, the Chateau de Breze's new owner, le Comte de Colbert, asked Yves Lambert and his son, Arnaud, from Domaine de Saint-Just, to manage the estate. They accepted with a twenty-five year lease and by 2012, the farms are certified organic. Today, after many years of quality farming and the deft touch of Arnaud, the brilliance of the wines known centuries ago is reemerging.
“TOP 100 PRODUCERS OF FRANCE FOR 2019”
”One of the most talented winemakers in the Loire - he farms his 40 hectares in a method close to biodynamic. His whole range of wines have drive, and are regularly among the best wines in and around Saumur. The whites have remarkable finesse and are extremely delicate. Also, they are chenins that are agreeable young, which is sufficiently rare as to be emphasized. His reds are at the same level. Good vine age counts for a lot, his talent just as much.
A benchmark winery!”
- Bettane & Dessauve 2019 - Top 100 Producers of France
The man of the monent: Arnaud Lambert
Brézé
Lauded in the classical literature of the 15th century, by King René of Anjou, the legendary wines of Château de Brézé were served in many royal courts in Europe. Regularly exchanged with other famous châteaux, like Sauternes’ greatest, Château d’Yquem, during the 1600’s, the white wines of Château de Brézé became known throughout Europe as “Chenin de Brézé.”
Brézé is a unique place to all others in Saumur. Tuffeau limestone is the mother rock that sits below the surface of all vineyards on this hill. Indeed, topsoils vary with different depths and mixtures of limestone, clay and sands. Cold temperatures of Brézé couple with the highly active calcium content in the soil to create still wines that have unusually low finishing pH levels (within the range of 2.85 to 3.05) and extraordinarily powerful acidic structures; they are more like what is found in Champagne, or other sparkling wines. Brézé is a special terroir that tastes and smells like no others.
Saint Cyr en Bourg
Beside that, Arnaud's family domaine at Saint Cyr en Bourg, is the neighbouring village just north of Brézé which lies mid-way between the village of Chacé where Clos Rougeard has their famed Le Bourg vineyard.
Typically Saint Cyr en Bourg has slightly richer red clay soils in some parts still with a limestone base. These soils are often better suited to Cabernet Franc with some exceptions which have more prominent limestone making those parcels more suitable to Chenin Blanc. However Arnaud's manage to achieve the stunning balance for the Chenin as well, richer than Breze but still maintain the exceptional underlying tension.
The reds wines from Saint Cyr can be labelled Saumur-Champigny as this village lies within that appellation, however the hill of Breze is just outside of that appellation and so the wines carry the shorter Saumur name as do the whites of Saint Cyr en Bourg as the Saumur-Champagny appellation is just for red wines not white.
A selection of Lambert's wines
The Cuvees
Saumur Blanc Clos de Midi (Brézé)
* Variety: 100% Chenin Blanc
* Vine Age: Planted in 1985
* Viticulture: Organic methods since 2009.
* Elevage: Lasts 12 months.
* Vinification: Grapes are hand-harvested and sorted in the vineyards.
* Indigenous yeast fermentation is 50% in stainless steel tanks and 50% in older (5 to 6 wines’ old) 228-liter barrels to maintain freshness.
* Malolactic fermentation is blocked naturally due to very low pH (generally around 3.10).
Terroir: South-eastern exposure. 70cm of sand, silt and clay topsoil covers the soft Turonian limestone bedrock.
This is one of the colder sites on the Brézé hill. The upper section, on the mid-slope of the hill, is primarily made of sand and at the bottom it is more rich in clay. Both of these features combined with Brézé's mother rock, tuffeau limestone, create the wine's balance between tension and generosity.
Saumur Blanc Les Perrières (En-Bourg)
* Variety: Chenin Blanc
* Vine Age: 65 years old
* Viticulture: Organic (certified)
* Vinification: Whole-cluster pressing. Indigenous yeast fermentation in older barrels (3-6 years old). Aged for 6 months in barrel.
Terroir: St.-Cyr-en-Bourg, silt on chalk soil on limestone bedrock
Saumur Blanc Clos David - (Brézé)
* Variety: 100% Chenin Blanc
* Vine Age: Planted in 1965
* Viticulture: Organic methods since 2009.
* Elevage: 12 months in barrel, followed by 6 months in tank.
* Vinification: Grapes are hand-harvested and sorted in the vineyards.
*Indigenous yeast fermentation is 50% in older foudres (large oak vats) and 50% in smaller 228- liter oak barrels (15% new and the rest one, two or three years old).
* Malolactic fermentation is blocked naturally due to very low pH (generally around 3.05).
Terroir: North-eastern exposure. 70cm of lightly silty sand topsoil covers the soft Turonian limestone bedrock.
This is one of the coldest sites on the hill of Brézé, so cold that it never has a chance to develop botrytis, even in the perfect botrytis years.
Saumur Blanc Clos de la Rue - (Brézé)
* Variety: 100% Chenin Blanc
* Vine Age: 1 hectare planted in 1965, 1 hectare planted in 1990
* Viticulture: Organic methods since 2009.
* Elevage: 12 months in barrel, followed by 6 months in tank.
* Vinification: Grapes are hand-harvested and sorted in the vineyards. Indigenous yeast fermentation in oak barrels (35% new and the rest one to two wines’ old).
* Malolactic fermentation is blocked naturally due to very low pH (generally around 3.0).
Terroir: Southern exposure. This parcel has a distinct and very complex soil structure: the top layer is 35cm of sand, then 10cm of clay, with the Turonian limestone bedrock underneath.
Clos de la Rue is the warmest vineyard on the hill of Breze and is reasonably insulated from the heavy gusts of wind that circle it. If you were to look at a thermal graph of average temperatures you would see a perfectly long rectangle that would show the most warm color from the key. The soil is sandy limestone on top, 25cm down you find clay and then another 10cm further, tuffeau limestone. The clay and warmth make this wine’s dimensions powerful. It's closest comparison is Guiberteau’s Clos de Carmes.
2016 Coulee de St Cyr Saumur Saint-Cyr-en-Bourg (blanc) - VERY LIMITED
From vines averaging 70 year old on about 30cm of clay over limestone. Vinified with indigenous yeast after separating free run and press juices and aged on fine lees for 12 months in a combination of older foudres and barrels. The wine is then returned to tank for another 8 months of ageing on fine lees. This is deep and complex with a touch of noble reduction giving more than a nod to Burgundy in terms of texture and structure.
Saumur Rouge Clos Mazurique - (Brézé)
* Variety: 100% Cabernet Franc
* Vine Age: Planted in 1990
* Viticulture: Organic methods since 2009.
* Elevage: Aged for 5 months in concrete tank before bottling.
* Vinification: Grapes are hand-harvested and sorted in the vineyards and cellar. Bunches are 100% de-stemmed before indigenous yeast fermentation in concrete tanks to maintain freshness and vibrancy. Maceration by infusion, with no pump-overs.
Terroir: Western exposure. 50cm of silty sand topsoil covers the Turonian limestone bedrock. The title “Clos Mazurique” appears on the label as of the 2012 vintage.
Saumur Rouge Clos de L'Etoile - (Brézé)
* Variety: 100% Cabernet Franc
* Vine Age: Planted in 1990
* Viticulture: Organic (certified)
* Elevage: Malolactic fermentation in tank, then the cuvée is transferred down to barrel (recent and 50% new) in the cellar. After two years, the wine is racked and blended together in tank for a few months before bottling. No fining or filtering. One year of aging in bottle before release.
* Vinification: Grapes are hand-harvested and sorted in the vineyards and cellar. Bunches are 100% de-stemmed before indigenous yeast fermentation in tank (concrete or stainless steel) to maintain freshness and vibrancy. Maceration by infusion, with no pump-overs.
Terroir: Sand and limestone
