Domaine des Sanzay 'Domaine' 2023 Saumur-Champigny Rouge

Nose of violets, cherries, and green peppers, followed by a fresh palate of red cherries, a hint of greenness and plum enveloped by fresh and slightly dusty tannins.

The domaine-level Saumur-Champigny is the entry point to the range and the everyday expression of the house: lighter in structure than the single-parcel cuvées, designed for early drinking, and representative of what this appellation does better than almost anywhere else — a Cabernet Franc that is genuinely refreshing without being thin. Varrains sits at the geographic heart of the appellation, and the Sanzay family has had more time than most to understand it.

100% organically farmed Cabernet Franc. Vines averaging 40 years old planted on chalky tuffeau limestone soils in and around Varrains, in the heart of the Saumur-Champigny appellation. Tuffeau, the same porous limestone used to build the great châteaux of the Loire, absorbs water during wet months and releases it slowly through the dry growing season, moderating stress and contributing to the wine's mineral character.

Handpicked and destemmed. Fermentation with native yeasts in stainless steel tanks, 8-10 days maceration. No additives beyond a minimal sulfite dose. Aged in tank and bottled in spring. Lightly filtered.

Domaine des Sanzay has farmed in Varrains since the 1880s, now in its fifth and sixth generations under Didier and Céline Sanzay and their son Ludovich. The estate covers 28 hectares, planted predominantly to Cabernet Franc across some of the appellation's best-regarded parcels: Les Poyeux; Les Dares; Beauregard; and Les Fogères. Three hectares of Chenin Blanc for Saumur blanc and sparkling. The wines are farmed organically and made with minimal intervention, using the old tuffeau quarry cellars beneath the estate for aging, a constant-temperature environment that the region's finest producers have relied on for centuries.