100% Chenin Blanc. Guiberteau’s 1.4-hectare Clos de Guichaux is a historically renowned vineyard in Bizay terroir in the small village of Épieds, near Brézé. It is a monopole for Guiberteau. The site is the classic clay/limestone of the region but has only 30cm of topsoil before the roots plunge directly into the pure, chalky bedrock. It’s a site quickly cementing its place as one of Saumur’s finest white vineyards—thanks to wines like this.
The 2020 is a perfectly ripe yet strikingly energetic white with all the trademark savoury, mineral drive one expects from this domaine. This wine is fermented and raised for 12 months on lees in two- to four-year-old barrels (600-litre, light-toast Atelier Centre France and François Frères that had previously housed the Brézé cuvée), followed by six months in tank. If 2019 was more Riesling-esque, the new vintage points to Chassange in its range of grilled stone fruit and rocky complexity. The Guichaux did not go through malo this year, and alongside its lovely transparency and purity, the palate prickles with energy and tension.
“This cuvée comes from a warm terroir in Épieds, south-east of Brézé. It has been matured in a barrel for one year and has seen no malolactic fermentation. Aromatically this feels attractively challenging, with suggestions of crushed rocks and saline minerals. There is a touch of roast to the fruits, led by peach and apricot, spiced up with star anise. The palate shows the same spiced-fruit melange, infused with a little powdered chalk, before a lightly bitter finish.” 92 points, Chris Kissack, The Wine Doctor