Brendan Stater-West Saumur Blanc Les Chapaudaises 2019

Les Chapaudaises is the single hectare at Bizay that Romain Guiberteau handed to Brendan Stater-West in 2015, and it was the parcel he started with.

Bizay lies about two kilometres south of Brézé, and Les Chapaudaises sits on tuffeau, a sandy limestone that gives the wine both energy and texture. Stater-West grew up in Oregon, came to France in 2007 as an English teacher, sold Guiberteau's wines in a Paris shop and then moved to Saumur in 2012 to work for him while studying viticulture; the gift of this parcel let him bottle under his own name from 2015. He farms organically, with herbal treatments and cover crops, and describes limestone as what gives grip where clay gives structure. The wine ferments on ambient yeasts, spends about twelve months in older barrels and a further six in stainless steel, and is bottled with minimal sulphur, the wood used for oxygen exchange rather than flavour.

Give it two or three years and expect it to keep well beyond that. Serve at 10-12°C with roast chicken, grilled whiting or a plate of hard cheeses.

*Every effort is made to ensure the current vintage is accurate; however, variations can occur. If you are after a specific vintage, please contact us prior to ordering.