Frantz Saumon, Pet Nat La Cave se Rebiffe is a crisp and refreshing Pétillant Naturel (the second fermentation occurs spontaneously in the bottle) made of Gamay, and Grolleau from vineyards in Montlouis. A beautiful rosy hue in the glass, the wine is peppery, fruity, and herbal on the nose with notes of raspberry seed, white pepper, and ripe strawberry. On the palate, the wine is clean and balanced with perhaps just a touch of sweetness to balance its ravishing acidity, and delicate, frothy bubbles.
Frantz Saumon, Azay le Rideau Organic, Natural
Frantz Saumon is not from winemaking stock. Indeed, he enjoyed a successful career in forestry management in Canada before returning home in the mid-90's to set up his estate at Huisseau in the Montlouis region of the Loire between Tours and Orleans.
He initially began with 3 hectares of vines but with subsequent acquisitions, his domaine now stands at 6 hectares: 5.5ha of Chenin Blanc and Sauvignon Blanc and ½ ha, red grape varieties. The vineyards are situated mainly at the foot of the famed Huisseau Plateau where all the best local names are located but Frantz also has holdings in Chapitre and Lussault-sur-Loire. The vines are planted on soils of sandy clay, limestone and flint and everything is carried out strictly according to organic principles. The grapes are manually harvested, only indigenous yeasts are used and the use of sulphur is very restricted.
The cellar of Frantz Saumon and his partner, Marie Thibault, is an old quarry dating back to the 1200’s where they would extract the Tuffeau limestone to build castles. It is 3000sqm, with endless caves to walk around. Used as farm storage and an old cowshed until 2018, when it was discovered by the couple, and they promptly and excitedly took it over.