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Arnaud Lambert established his eponymous domaine in 2017 with the merger of his family’s Domaine de Saint-Just and the rented parcels from Château de Brézé. He farms more than 40 hectares of organic vineyards in Saumur’s continental climate with unusually dry conditions due to the rain shadow effect of the Massif Armoricain. In this part of the “Anjou Blanc,” the vineyards are on tuffeau limestone bedrock with topsoil variations of clay and sand. Still wines from Chenin Blanc and Cabernet Franc are vinified and aged in variations of steel, concrete, and small and large wooden vats without added sulfites until bottling.
Arnaud Lambert established his eponymous domaine in 2017 with the merger of his family’s Domaine de Saint-Just and the rented parcels from Château de Brézé. He farms more than 40 hectares of organic vineyards in Saumur’s continental climate with unusually dry conditions due to the rain shadow effect of the Massif Armoricain. In this part of the “Anjou Blanc,” the vineyards are on tuffeau limestone bedrock with topsoil variations of clay and sand. Still wines from Chenin Blanc and Cabernet Franc are vinified and aged in variations of steel, concrete, and small and large wooden vats without added sulfites until bottling.
VINEYARD DETAILS
Lambert’s Crémant de Loire Blanc is made of 75% Chenin Blanc/25% Chardonnay. The vines were planted between 2014-2016 on tuffeau limestone, sand, and clay, at at 60-80m altitude on gentle slopes in Saumur’s Brézé commune.
CELLAR NOTES
Natural fermentation at 17°C max. and aging in steel for 6 months before bottling. ML happens in certain years. Sulfites added only at bottling. 4-8g/L dosage. No filtration or fining.
This is another wine in our collection that over-delivers for the price, especially when considering the exhausting effort made to craft such an inexpensive sparkler from one of the Loire Valley’s greatest terroirs, Brézé. This now famous commune in Saumur is known for its laser-sharp Chenin Blanc wines, and fresh, bright and extremely age-worthy Cabernet Franc. The blend here is about 75% Chenin Blanc with the rest Chardonnay; the latter is used to soften up, add body and round out the edges of the extremely tense character of the Chenin grown in the coldest sites of this already frigid hill.
