Fabien Duveau Saumur-Champigny Varrains 'Bourg' 2023

100% Cabernet Franc from vines located in Varrains between Saumur and Saint-Cyr-en-Bourg planted 1966 on sandy loam over greenish coloured Turonian limestone. 100% de-stemmed and fermented with indigenous yeast this has a very gentle vinification using maceration with no pump overs. In 2023 this is all aged in concrete tanks to preserve the freshness and purity. Very fresh fine and expressive yet also quite restrained. Would benefit from decanting to show its best, this has obvious ageing potential. Bottled un-fined and unfiltered.

'In his 14th century underground cellars, Fabien Duveau embodies the 8th generation at the head of the Chacé family estate, which covers around fifteen hectares. Poyeux and Bourg are at the top of the bill with certified organic wines that are structured and elegant, with a beautiful aromatic persistence. The 2020s are a priority for the appellation. This is one of the revelations of the year.' Bettane + Desseauve, 2024.

Fabien Duveau makes his wines in a deep limestone cave dug in the 14th century from the same beautiful creamy white sandstone that built the great Loire châteaux. Located in the narrow main street of Chacé, it’s only a few doors from the Foucault cellars where for many years visitors came to taste the wines of Clos Rougeard. The caves were first used as dwellings for the Saumurois, though the constant chill and humidity levels they bring are more perfectly suited for winemaking and storage than human habitation. The domaine, in Fabien’s family since the late 18th century, now spreads over 16 hectares around the neighbouring villages of Saint-Cyr-en-Bourg, Varrains and Brézé.

For winemaking all wines are fermented with native yeast and his reds are 100 % destemmed and whites whole bunch pressed. No SO2 is used in the elevage until bottling with minimal safe levels. Fabien attributes the fine velvety tannins, vivid fruit, and appetising freshness of his Cab Francs and the forceful intensity of his Chenins to this soil composition. His aim is to allow the personality of each parcel to come through clearly in his wines. To this end he embraced organic and then bio-dynamic practices in the vineyards to enable each plot to fully express itself.

In the vineyards, Fabien has a mix of clones, though his oldest plots (mostly planted in 1960s) are of massale selections. All training is guyot and yields are carefully controlled. Fabien vinifies and bottles separately his holdings in Hautes Poyeux (upper) and Bas Poyeux (lower). (Clos Rougeard made this site famous and have only ever bottled it as Poyeux - and only from Cabernet Franc.) Fabien makes a distinction based on vine age (older vines in Bas Poyeux), soil composition, elevation, and orientation, which leads him to take a different course in the cellar as well.