Chateau de Breze Clos d'Etoile Saumur Rouge 2014

Chateau de Breze Clos d'Etoile Saumur Rouge 2014

Arnaud Lambert
$70.00

Grape: Cabernet Franc
Vintage: 2014
Type: Red

Sourced from a historic walled vineyard plot in Saumur, this red wine showcases the development of cabernet franc over a mature vintage. The estate manages the old vines under certified organic practices, where the roots sit in porous tuffeau limestone soils. Fermentation occurs spontaneously with native wild yeasts in neutral concrete vats, prioritizing slow extraction over modern forced styling. It undergoes an extended aging process in used French oak barrels to permit the tannins to settle.

It pours a translucent ruby color with garnet reflections, opening with a complex nose of ripe raspberry, cassis, and fresh violets. On the palate, the medium-bodied frame is juicy and fluid, balancing mature red fruit flavors with a savory baseline of tobacco leaf and damp earth. A crisp, vertical wave of limestone acidity cuts right through mid-palate volume, keeping it racy. Fine-grained, grainy tannins provide a gentle grip that structures the mouthfeel nicely.

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.