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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 a 8 ha 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 extol a considerable 40-plus ha of vineyards (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 Fillitreau vineyards run along a site known as La Grand Vignolle, a riverside plot situated on very typical tuffeau (limestone) bedrock. There are many old vines, 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 extolled 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 ha 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 ha 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 5249 92
Internet: www.filliatreau.fr
Domaine Filliatreau - Tasting Notes
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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
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