Giraudière

Third-generation winegrower Fabrice Esnault has more than 20 hectares in Saumur-Champigny’s municipalities of Montsoreau and Turquant, and Saumur’s most famous commune, Brézé. Devoid of all herbicides and pesticides and sustainably farmed, the vines average 35 years old, the oldest being about 75. The focus is on Chenin Blanc and Cabernet Franc, though he also grows Chardonnay, Grolleau Gris, and Grolleau Noir. Brézé vineyards are tuffeau limestone, clay and sand, and Saumur-Champigny has deeper clay topsoil on tuffeau bedrock. Selected local yeasts are employed when needed, and the whites are fermented and aged in fiberglass and old oak barrels without malolactic fermentation, filtered before bottling, and sometimes fined. Saumur-Champigny wines ferment for three weeks in fiberglass with gentle extractions at low temps (~20°C), followed by eight months in old barrels with light filtration or fining, if needed.