PRODUCER: Clotilde Legrand
REGION: Saumur, Loire, France
WINEMAKER: Clotilde Legrand
Domaine Clotilde Legrand is found in the picturesque village of Varrains in the famed Samurois. Encircled by vines and fields of grain, the majesty of their home is upstaged only by their fifteenth century cellars, carved into the limestone chalk (or ‘tuffa’) that has made this region so well-known.
WINERY HISTORY
The history of Domaine Clotilde Legrand is the history of a family's dedication to a region. The first female winemaker in an extremely long lineage dating back to the 17th Century, Clotilde's family is amongst the earliest recorded producers in the region.The Legrand family now control twenty separate parcels across Saumur, Dampierre, Chacé, Varrains and Souzy-Champigny. In 1991, René - Clotilde’s father - was the first in Varrains to plant an active cover crop between vineyard rows, not only encouraging healthy soil, but also promoting competition and lower yields which have dramatically increased the quality of the fruit.
VITICULTURE & WINEMAKING
The estate vineyard is of the Saumur-Champigny AOC - where the family were amongst the first growers - and is planted to 16ha of Cabernet Franc and a tiny plot of Chenin. The vines are forty-five-years old on average, with the oldest plots dating back to 1937. They are planted along the gentle slopes and hillsides of Saumur, Dampierre, Chacé, Varrains and Champigny, some of the greatest terroirs of Saumur. Grown sustainably and enclosed by walls, these protected vines produce a fruit of exceptional brightness and superb maturation.
Clotilde remains true to many of the Domaine’s centuries-old traditions. Hand harvesting and natural fermentation protect the delicate nature of the grapes, with de-stemming being of paramount importance. The Les Lizières is aged in tank, while La Chaintrée spends further time in 500-litre oak puncheons. The wines vary widely in style, some crafted to be light and fruity, while others are designed with long ageing potential in mind. A desire for perfectionism is found in all her bottlings, earning Clotilde renown, and reaffirming the Les Rogelins cuvée as a benchmark for first-rate Saumur-Champigny.
Les Lizières is a medium purple colour, displaying a powerful nose full of fresh red fruits and a rich, generous palate with supple tannins and ripe red fruit flavours. La Chaintrée is a darker bottling, highly aromatic with intense aromas of blackcurrant, blueberry, and pine resin. It is full bodied and elegant with silky tannins that coat the mouth. Les Rogelins has the longest ageing potential of any of Clotilde’s wines, powerful aromas of black and dried fruit coupled with a beauteous and powerful structure.
GRAPE VARIETIES
Cabernet Franc
