2020 Arnaud Lambert Montées des Roches Saumur Champigny Saint-Cyr-En-Bourg, Loire Valley

From 1.7ha of vines averaging 70 years old on about 30 cm of sandy-clayey silt over limestone. Whole-bunch pressed and vinified with indigenous yeast and aged on fine lees for 12 months in a combination of new and 1-3 year-old barriques.
The wine is then returned to tank for another 8 months of ageing on fine lees. Fine and elegant with an expansive palate, finishing long and complex. A beautifully executed Burgundian analogue. Bottled un-fined and unfiltered.

From vines averaging 35 years old facing east on red silty clay soil over limestone bedrock. 100% destemmed and fermented with indigenous yeast in tank after separating free run and press juices with no SO2 for ageing and just 1 mg SO2 at bottling after 12 months ageing in older barrels before blending in tank and ageing for another 6 months. Arnaud feels with this vintage he has understood the site to get the best expression and this shows very fine with beautiful pure aromas. Very fine and pure on the palate with a big step up in expression and complexity this shows real finesse of tannins and structure and is a very beautiful expression of variety and site. A serious and stunning Saumur rouge.

Breze is on the rise, today producing some of the most arrestingly mineral, intense Chenin Blanc on the planet. For at least 500 years, these vines produced some of the most profound wines of France. They were regularly exchanged, barrel for barrel, with Chateau d’Yquem, the nectar like sweet wine from Bordeaux that sells for thousands of dollars a bottle. They were a favourite at Versailles under the Sun King, Louis XIV. Today, out of 400 hectares (980 acres), only 4 producers are bottling wines as Breze, accounting for about 10% of the vineyard area.

Arnaud Lambert has 21 hectares, and makes stunning single vineyard whites from Clos du Midi, Clos David and Clos de la Rue. These are precise crystal sharp wines in their youth, with enough snap to shock the tongue, butnstill possess the weight and resonance to expand and slightly soften with age. The reds come from Clos de L’Etoilenand Clos Mazurique. While differences in each vineyard lead to wines of distinctive character, Lambert’s style arcs toward grace. His wines are stripped down and elemental, ripped with acidity and verve. They plug into the electricity of Breze’s limestone soils.’

Rajat Parr The Sommelier’s Atlas of Taste