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Domaine Filliatreau

Today Domaine Filliatreau is the largest single estate in the Saumur-Champigny appellation, and it is significant in terms of quality as well as size. Currently run by father-and-son team Paul and Frédrik Filliatreau, it is Paul that has pushed the envelope, constantly innovating and improving the wines during his tenure, bringing Domaine Filliatreau to the head of the Saumur-Champigny pack.

Paul first took on a major responsibility in the family business when he took over the running of an 8-hectare portion of the domaine from his father, Maurice, back in 1967. At the time the wines of Saumur were more likely to be rosé than red, and those that were red were clearly not of the quality that can be found today. As Paul took on more and more of the domaine, he built a new cellar and installed stainless steel temperature-controlled fermentation equipment. Quality was pushed up, and Paul travelled widely, raising not only the profile of Domaine Filliatreau but of Saumur as a whole. Paul and Frédrik, who joined his father in 1990, now exploit a considerable vineyard of more than 40 hectares (easily matching the size of many Médoc properties, and dwarfing those of the Libournais or Burgundy, as a comparison). They turn out a number of special cuvées, and indeed Domaine Filliatreau was the first to bottle separate expressions of Saumur-Champigny in this fashion.

Many of the Filliatreau vineyards run along a site known as La Grand Vignolle, a riverside plot situated on very typical tuffeau (limestone) bedrock. There are many ancient vines here, facilitating the production of an old vines cuvée, and yields are carefully restricted. The vineyards are managed along organic lines, although there is also a small plot in the vineyard of Chateau Fouquet, also owned and tended by the Filliatreau team, that has been turned over to biodynamic viticulture.

The portfolio starts with the domaine bottling, which includes the fruit of younger vines, and is sourced from vines averaging 20 years of age on argilo-limestone plots around the village of Chaintres, and in Dampierre sur Loire, Varrains and Chacé, to the south-west of Saumur. Yields vary between 40 and 60 hl/ha depending on the plot. The resulting wine is fresh and for drinking young. Then comes what is essentially a second domaine bottling, the Chateau Fouquet cuvée, from a 6.5-hectare argilo-limestone vineyard in Brézé, east of Saumur. Situated between these and the vieille vignes cuvées is Lena Filliatreau, introduced by Paul Filliatreau in 1982, produced from 35 year old vines on argilo-limestone and argilo-silicieux sites. La Grand Vignolle is one of many troglodytic dwelling sites that pepper the tuffeau along the Loire, caves and in more recent centuries houses carved into the rock. The cuvée of the same name comes from a 7-hectare vineyard at the site, the vines up to 40 years of age, harvested at 50 hl/ha. At the top of the tree is the Vieilles Vignes cuvée, sourced from the same spread of vineyards as the entry-level domaine bottling, an age-worthy wine from Cabernet Franc harvested at less than 40 hl/ha. There are other wines, such as the Cuvée des 12 Fûts from Chateau Fouquet and a white Saumur, but the above wines form the core of the portfolio here. And a very strong array of wines it is. When shopping for Saumur-Champigny, especially if exploring the appellation for the first time, Filliatreau is one name that should be near the top your list. (27/6/06)

Contact details:
Address: 49400 Saumur
Telephone: +33 (0) 2 41 52 90 84
Fax: +33 (0) 2 41 52 49 92
Internet: www.filliatreau.fr

Domaine Filliatreau - Tasting Notes

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Domaine de la Croix de Chaintres Saumur-Champigny 2005: This wine originates from vines owned by Jean-Michel Bercetche, Frederick Filliatreau's brother-in-law (the label is very much in the style of Filliatreau), so I have included it here. The nose starts off with hard fruit, with thick plum skins and cherry skins, with softer notes of rose petals, although the character of the wine remains very hard, sooty and a touch withdrawn. The palate is firm, hard and polished, with a forceful bite of tannins through the midpalate and a firm structure underneath. This is the character at the finish also. Good but rather withdrawn fruit, and fair acidity. Rather foursquare and slightly chewy finish. 15.5/20 (May 2009)

Domaine Filliatreau Saumur-Champigny 2003: A dark, black cherry hue fading to a deep red rim. More cherry stone than cherry fruit on the nose, which has certain smoky, stony, green peppercorn tones that comes from the Cabernet Franc. A lovely, slightly bitter, slightly mean and reserved character on the palate, with a sappy, sour fruit acidity pervading through to the midpalate and whirling around the palate on the finish. This wine has a vibrant impact on the palate, great for those that love this mouth-watering sour fruit style.  I enjoyed it. For current and short-term drinking. 17/20 (June 2006) Label

Domaine Filliatreau Saumur-Champigny La Grande Vignolle 2003: A moderately deep hue, with a vibrant cherry red tint. A fine and very typical nose, a melange of cherry fruit with sweet strawberry and loganberry notes, sprinkled with a little black pepper. It has a promising seamless style on entry, before revealing a little of its gangly youth through the midpalate, as it shows some ripe, peppery tannins, but with nicely poised acidity and a flourish of blackberry fruit. A little nuance of tobacco is just the first note of emerging complexity I think, but there is an evident depth right now. This will improve over 3-5 years. Very good indeed. 17.5+/20 (June 2006) Label

Domaine Filliatreau Saumur-Champigny Vieilles Vignes 2003: A fairly deep, youthful cherry red hue. Rather closed on the nose at first, slowly yielding stony, cherry pit aromas. A nice, medium bodied approach, and showing real depth through the midpalate, where the old vine quality really shows. This has a lovely, seamless presence, with delightful balance, tied up with a complex array of mineral and tobacco character that seems to swirl in the depths of the wine, never showing itself until the finish, when it comes forth in a flurry of flavour and structure. Very fine. Although drinking now, I suspect this would age well over 5-6 years at least. 17.5+/20 (June 2006) Label