Domaine Filliatreau Saumur-Champigny Rouge, 2018
Domaine Filliatreau Saumur-Champigny Rouge, 2018
Filliatreau has 43 hectares of vines in dozens of parcels large and small in the Saumur and Saumur-Champigny AOC's, planted mainly to Cabernet Franc with a bit of Chenin Blanc. Farming has been sustainable for decades but Filliatreau is fully committed to going organic: as of early 2019, 25 hectares were converted with the rest in progress. The vines range in age from 25 to 110 years old and are planted on sandy clay soils rich in the soft local limestone called tuffeau (from which houses are built and cellars dug all along this section of the Loire Valley). Harvest is mainly by hand into small bins (with some use of machines depending on the vintage circumstances). The fruit is hand-sorted, destemmed and fermented with natural yeasts in stainless steel tanks with temperature control. The wines are moved by gravity and aged almost exclusively in steel; they are bottled with a gentle filtration, with one special exception. Filliatreau wines are clean, bright and approachable, delivering incredible quality for modest prices and embodying the evolution of winegrowing, which this family estate truly helped shape, in the Saumur region.
PAIR WITH ROASTED DUCK, CREAM SAUCES, MUSHROOMS, GRILLED CHICKEN OR A CHEESE OMELET.