ANTOINE SANZAY, France

Antoine’s father tragically passed away when he was 10, just as his grandfather was verging on retirement. While Antoine’s father was a wine lover, his grandfather was the opposite: what mattered to him was to work the land for a living, with all the grapes sold to the local co- operative. With no solid guidance, Antoine had to start from scratch. And while this obliged him to rely on his wits, it also gave him the freedom to experiment. “I think it can be easier for the children to start with a new name than following their father’s legacy with all the baggage that can come with it,” he says. While Antoine may have had to learn on his own, he took inspiration from many great Loire personalities, including Guy Bossard, Jo Pithon, Thierry Germain, Jo Landron, Les Frères Foucault and Bernard Baudry. It was not until 2002 that Antoine made his first vintage, having slowly made the switch to organic practices. By 2011, he was fully organic, and in 2014 became fully certified bio and Ecocert. 2014 was also the first vintage in which he bottled his entire production and ceased selling to the local co-operative, which prior to that provided much-needed financial support. Today, there is stylistic continuity throughout the range, with great tension, focus and vibrant fruit harnessed to absolute linear precision. The reds show a brilliantly judged balance between intense crunchy berry fruits, brooding matière, croquant tannic grip and a lingering refined floral element mixed with lovely bite and length. It was not until 2002 Antoine made his first vintage. With slowly having made the switch to organic practices, in 2007 Antoine started experimenting deeper in to organic viticulture and converted his vineyards by 2011, becoming fully certified bio and Ecocert in 2014. 2014 was also his first vintage where he bottled his entire production and stopped selling to the local cooperative, Antoine admitted “I started with almost nothing and I needed the local cooperative to help me financially”. Throughout the range you will find there is stylistic continuity, with great tension, focus, vibrant fruit harnessed to absolute linear precision. The reds show a brilliantly judged balance between intense crunchy berry fruits, brooding matiere, croquant tannic grip, and a lingering refined floral element mixed with lovely bite and length.

Viticulture

Located in Varrains, the domaine sits right along the main road running south from Saumur directly through the commune before continuing on past Chacé and Saint-Cyr-en-Bourg to Brézé. Here is where you will find the Sanzay residence, cuverie and cave, while the vineyards are scattered around in the communes of Dampierre, St-Cyr-en-Bourg , Varrains and Souzay-Champigny. Altogether Antoine has 11.4 hectares of vineyards at his disposal; with approx. 10.3 hectares planted to Cabernet Franc, the wines are eligible for the Saumur-Champigny appellation. Alongside his plantings is 1.1 hectares of Chenin Blanc, for which the wines are produced under the Saumur appellation. His most prized parcels are two 2-hectare plots in the lieu-dit ‘Les Poyeux’, the vineyard best associated with Clos Rougaerd, who also bottle a majestic ‘Les Poyeux’ cuvée. The soils here are very thin, the vine roots digging deep into the limestone rock beneath, with the resulting wine being the most structured in the Sanzay portfolio. The vineyards are cultivated to organic practices, avoiding chemical treatments. The harvest is always carried out entirely by hand with bunches being transported in 25kg tubs to the Sanzay facilities. Here the bunches are carefully sorted over a table de tri before their successive vinification, the exact details of which depends on the cuvée in question.