Domain Guiberteau, Saumur Rouge, 2023

Red Fruit, Savory, Elegant

Loire Valley / Red / Cabernet Franc / Organic

The organically farmed vines are hand-harvested from limestone-rich soils around Brézé and Saint-Just-sur-Dive. Grapes are fully destemmed and fermented spontaneously with native yeasts in stainless steel tanks. Extraction is gentle, relying on infusion rather than force, allowing the precision and minerality of Cabernet Franc to shine. The wine undergoes full malolactic conversion and is aged for about 12 months in a mix of older barrels and tanks, with no fining and minimal filtration. It’s a pure, vibrant expression of Saumur—refined, saline, and intensely drinkable.

Notes on the producer

Romain Guiberteau is one of the Loire’s most respected and uncompromising vignerons. After studying under the legendary Clos Rougeard, he took over his family’s small estate in Brézé in the late 1990s and quickly became known for producing wines of extraordinary precision and depth. His vineyards, once nearly abandoned, now stand among the finest in Saumur, planted on chalky tuffeau soils that lend the wines their unmistakable tension and minerality. Guiberteau’s commitment to organic farming and meticulous vineyard work allows him to craft wines that express terroir above all else. His reds, made exclusively from Cabernet Franc, are structured yet graceful—benchmark examples of Saumur Rouge. Quantities are limited and allocations scarce, so they rarely stay on shelves for long.