Domaine Guiberteau, 2024 Update
Thirty years ago Domaine Guiberteau simply did not exist. Despite the Guiberteau having been present in the region for many years, and even though they still had ownership of a number of interesting vineyards, there was not a single bottle of wine with the Guiberteau name on the label on the market. The reason? Winemaking had ground to a halt during the 1970s, when Robert Guiberteau – a significant figure in the appellation, as he had been instrumental in the founding of the local co-operative – decided to retire. With no-one in the family interested in stepping into his shoes, from this point onwards the family sent all their fruit to that co-operative instead.
This changed with the arrival of Romain Guiberteau. Leaving behind his law studies, Romain decided to take on the family’s vines, gradually prising them from the co-operative contracts (which usually last a number of years – patience is a useful asset when making this transition). His first vintage was 1996, and before long he was making waves with his wines, in particular his electric and mineral whites. His curriculum vitae, which includes time in the cellars of the Frères Foucault, no doubt helped; if there is one dream held by merchants specialising in the wines of the Loire Valley, and some who drink the region’s wines, it is that they might have just stumbled across the next Clos Rougeard.
I first met up with Romain Guiberteau a decade or so ago, and was immediately impressed by his wines, certainly by the whites. During the time that has since passed the domaine’s reputation has grown, and the portfolio of wines has grown with it, with a particular focus on single-vineyard wines from highly regarded terroirs especially around Brézé, wines made using organic practices in the vineyard, and a low-intervention approach in the cellars.
Earlier this year I had the opportunity to taste half a dozen new and forthcoming releases from the domaine, and having included the two youngest wines in my Loire 2023 First Taste report, I present here my notes on the other four wines.
