Domaine Guiberteau Saumur Clos des Carmes Blanc 2019

Domaine Guiberteau's Clos des Carmes is a monopole on the Brézé hill, one of three clos there singled out by Curnonsky in the last century.

The Brézé hill holds at least nine historic, clearly delimited clos, most of them still owned by the Château de Brézé. Maurice Edmond Sailland, the writer better known by his pen name Curnonsky, picked out three for outstanding quality, and the Guiberteau family own one of them: Clos des Carmes, acquired by Romain's grandfather in 1955. The south-facing parcel sits mid-slope on the belly of the hill and covers some 2.6 hectares, replanted with massal-selection cuttings by Romain's father Robert in 2004. Only 0.8 hectares, cropped at 30 hl/ha, go into this bottling; the rest is declassified for now into the Saumur Blanc and Brézé cuvées. The upbringing follows the Brézé route — whole-cluster pressing, indigenous-yeast fermentation in new, one- and two-year-old barrels, and 24 months on fine lees in cask. Because it is typically the more tightly wound of the two, it rests a further year in bottle before release.

The structure and dry extract should carry it a decade or more. Serve with roast turbot, poached chicken or a mature Tomme at 10–12°C.

*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.