Domaine Filliatreau, 2001 Saumur-Champigny “Vieilles Vignes”
Domaine Filliatreau was established in 1967 when Paul Filliatreau took over the family domaine following his father’s retirement. An admirer of the work of Charles Joguet in Chinon, Paul took it upon himself to make improvements to the cellar to improve the quality of his wines, of these changes the most significant was the introduction of stainless steel tanks and temperature control in the 1970s, which was still a relatively new phenomenon at the time.
Paul’s work at the domaine and with Cabernet Franc single-handedly changed the course of the Saumur-Champigny appellation, and set the stage for what is today one of the great regions for single varietal Cabernet Franc in the world.
Domaine Filliatreau’s 34ha of vines are planted across the communes of Dampierre-sur-Loire, Chacé, Varrains and Turquant. The fruit for the Vieilles Vignes is coming from from select parcels around the hamlet of Chaintres in Dampierre-sur-Loire.
Dampierre-sur-Loire is one of the 6 communes that hugs the banks of the Loire River and then stretches south into the centre of the appellation, and in the case of Dampierre-sur-Loire the commune runs about 3km from north to south and is around 2km from east to west. Around the historic hamlet of Chaintres, we have vineyards at elevations of around 45 to 60m above sea level, and the soils are predominantly the Turonian tuffeau chalk-derived soils.
The topsoils here tend to be a little more shallow, that is to say that we are hitting the tuffeau chalk bedrock within anywhere from 50 to 90cm of the surface, so there is a greater impact of the tuffeau here. In terms of the textures of the topsoil, we tend to see a slightly higher percentage of clay in the topsoil, anywhere from 25-40% clay content. And this is hugely important for Cabernet Franc when the topsoils are more shallow.
The depth of the topsoil and the textures of the topsoil here contribute to a few key constraints that impact viticulture. Here there is very good drainage, and moderate to good water reserves. So these soils will be a little bit less vigorous and also in these sites can experience budbreak that is normal or a little bit earlier than normal. Water reserves and drainage have a big impact on yield but also the precocity of a particular site, that is whether one might consider it a warmer or earlier site, or a cooler or later site. And this will inevitably impact sugar and phenolic ripeness, and the balance between these two things when it comes time for harvest.
So this wine is from 5 hecatres of vines from 4 different lieux-dits around Chaintre. These vines would've been planted in the 1930s to 1940s, so in 2001 they would've been 60 to 70 year old vines. In terms of soil, there is about 40 to 50cm of topsoil, which is predominantly clay sandy-loam, and there is a moderate amount of stoniness in the topsoils as well. The bedrock here is the Middle Turonian tuffeau chalk, and these lieux-dits have mostly south-facing exposures.
The fruit for this wine was hand-harvested and it was 100% destemmed. Fermentation is in stainless steel with indigenous yeast, and the fermentation temperature is maintained between 20 and 25C. The wine saw around 24 days of skin contact, with pump overs to ensure the cap stays wet and to aid extraction. The finished cuvée is 90% free run wine, with only a small addition of about 10% of press wine. Aging is in stainless steel for around 9 months before. If you have a bottle of this 2001 Vieilles Vignes, it is ready to drink and hugely pleasurable, particularly if you LOVE older examples of Loire Valley Cabernet Franc. 2001 was considered a “cooler” or “lighter” vintage, and this shows all the hallmarks of that vintage. It is lean, focused, filigree, with lots of energy, perfume and persistence.
Key wine wine facts below:
Producer: Domaine Filliatreau
Appellation: Saumur-Champigny
Commune: Dampierre-sur-Loire
Lieux-Dits: Clos Candi, Clos Maison, Clos de Chaintres, Le Mulet
Soils: 40-50cm of clay sandy-loam atop the Middle Turonian tuffeau chalk
Alcohol: 12.5%
