Arnaud Lambert Midi Saumur Blanc 2023

Arnaud Lambert Midi Saumur Blanc 2023

Arnaud Lambert
$23.00

Grape: Chenin Blanc
Vintage: 2023
Type: White

Sourced from the organically farmed single vineyard called Clos du Midi in Brézé, this white wine showcases the classic limestone terroir of Saumur. Winemaker Arnaud Lambert allows the hand-picked chenin blanc grapes to ferment spontaneously using only native wild yeasts in stainless steel tanks. It sits undisturbed on its fine fermentation lees for six months to build natural textural density. By avoiding new oak barrels, the winemaking preserves a transparent look at the region's white tuffeau limestone soils.

It pours a pale straw-yellow color, releasing clear aromatics of lemon flesh, lime zest, green apple, and white flowers. A sleek, medium-bodied frame balances orchard fruit flavors with an underlying stony mineral core. A zesty, electric acidity slices directly through mid-palate, providing excellent structural tension and freshness. The extended lees contact contributes a subtle creaminess that rounds out the lean mouthfeel avoiding heavy volume. It finishes bone-dry, leaving a lingering saline trace.

Terroir

Arnaud Lambert’s domaine vineyards are located in three communes within the Loire Valley’s Saumur region, a subsection of the larger Anjou area. This is the land of Chenin Blanc, Cabernet Franc and inexpensive bubbles. He principally works within three communes: two within the Saumur-Champigny appellation and the resurrected commune, Brézé, included in the broad AOP Saumur, on the southernmost border of the AOP Saumur-Champigny.

Saumur and neighboring Anjou have a lot in common, but can be vastly different with the end result, at least within the context of the same grapes.

Winery

Arnaud studied enology and viticultural studies in Beaune and his wines show it in their somewhat Burgundian-like elegance and aristocratic polish.

What’s most incredible about Arnaud is his ability to churn out such quality with nearly twenty different cuvées rendered from more than forty hectares of vineyards; although this is a lot, all of his wines seem like they’ve come from a domaine with no more than five hectares. His wines are spectacularly etched jewels, short on pretension and confection, and long on harmonious depth and purity.

Arnaud, like many of the wine world’s luminaries-in-the-making, has adopted the philosophical approach to allow the terroir to define the wines, rather than the other way around. He’s most known for his wines grown on Brézé and no more than two kilometers away, from his home in Saint-Cyr-en-Bourg. These two hills gave inspiration for the subtle, two-line, soft hill shaped logo on his labels.