La Porte Saint Jean Saumur-Champigny Rouge 2021

Location: France, Loire, Saumur-Champigny

Winemaker: Sylvain Dittière & Pauline Foucault

Grapes: Cabernet Franc

Soil: Sand, silt, clay, limestone

Winemaking: Hand-harvested from two different sites on a single slope in Brossay (between Doué-la-Fontaine and Montreuil-sur-Bellay). Destemmed, fermented in fiberglass tanks, aged in old Bordeaux barrels for 18 months.

From us at M&L: Sylvain’s Saumur-Champigny is one of the most expressive wines we’ve experienced in recent memory. There is a sense of ease and yet otherworldly beauty here; vividness and mystery, shadow and light. Tart red cherry and blackcurrant, tanned dark leather, prune jam, laced together delicately with whiffs of chaga and trails of white flowers and violets. Two-thirds of the wine is free-run juice, finished with press wine that incorporates some structural qualities but also allows the freshness of the wine to come through. A heartbreakingly honest expression of Loire Cabernet Franc that is uniquely clear-eyed and expertly crafted, all while maintaining a true sense of ‘naturalness’. -Lennie

From the Importer Avant Garde: Sylvain Dittiere, nicknamed “TonTon”, grew up in Saumur where his parents were growing roses. After studying oenology, he interned with Gerard Gauby, Marc Tempe, Thierry Germain and Antoine Foucault.

Upon returning to the Loire in 2010, Sylvain started La Porte Saint Jean. He was able to find a vineyard in Saumur-Champigny that was organically farmed and yields that were no more than 40hl/ha. The Cabernet Franc is planted on sand, silt, clay with a subsoil of limestone. From this parcel, he crafts two cuvees; La Porte Saint Jean & Les Beaugrands. Recently, Sylvain added 2 more vineyards; Les Cormiers planted with Cabernet Franc in the AOC Saumur and his white parcel planted with old vines of Sauvignon Blanc and Chenin Blanc respectively called Saut Mignon and La Perlee.

Sylvain makes no concessions; the work in the vineyards is intense and precise to reach each years' ripeness and balance. As well, detailed oriented “TonTon” makes a strict sorting. In terms of vinification, all natural with a bit of SO2 at the end bottled without filtration or fining, the aging takes place in a combination of used barrels from Bordeaux, Burgundy and the Rhone.

Clearly within a few years, Sylvain has become one of the most talented vigneron in the region.