Interview with a winemaker from the Loire region: Jean-Philippe Louis , oenologist, Château de Chaintres, Saumur.
📽️ Interviews with Loire winemakers & Loire winery proprietors
Hello, I’m Philippe Louis. I’m an oenologist. I currently manage Château de Chaintres, which is in the Saumur Champigny appellation.
Wines and soils
8 different soils !
We are located in the heart of the appellation, which represents approximately 1,600 hectares of vines.
This estate was developed in 1675 by the Oratorian monks who had bought the château. They were the ones who planted the vines and built the walled vineyard (or ‘clos’ in French).
Our estate covers 18 hectares, 17 of which are within the clos.
What makes our estate special and gives us our strength are our eight different soils.
The advantage of this walled vineyard is that we are protected. We grow two varieties that we use to make single varietal wines. These are Cabernet Franc and Chenin.
From the Cabernet Franc, we produce red, including three different AOC Saumur Champigny wines. We also produce Saumur Rosé and a white sparkling wine with the Crémant de Loire appellation, called Blanc de Noir.
From the Chenin, we produce two white wines with the Saumur Blanc appellation: Les Genêts and Clos des Oratoriens.
The entire estate is harvested by hand, into 25 kilos crates and sorting is done at picking.
Sales and export
We currently export to Germany, Switzerland, Luxembourg, Belgium, the Netherlands and Canada.
Our goals with respect to exports are to develop
closer relationships with our importers, by bringing them to the estate, showing them how we work, showing them the vines and the geology of the soils, and to try to develop long-term business.
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