© 2004, Jon-David Headrick Selections, LLC.  All Rights Reserved.

                      of Savennieres is a perfect reflection of its wines.  Often reserved and austere at first, the habitants only warm up to outsiders after a few years.  But when the shell is finally cracked, the villagers and the wine open up in a way that no other in France can.  Savennieres, from its people to its vinous fruit, is regal.

 

It took some time for a young Damien Laureau to learn this.  At the age of 30, Damien left his post as an agriculture consultant to take over 6 hectares of vines from his uncle who was heading into retirement.  Damien knew much about growing fruit; his family produces some of France’s most sought-after pears and apricots, but Savennieres was a different animal altogether.  For the first few years, no one in the village would help him.  Even though he rented a small place in the center of the village and became involved in the community, their secrets were never shared.  And so, Damien had no choice but to experiment. 

 

 

In February of 2004, Damien’s experiments paid off.  At the annual tasting of all of the top domaines of the Loire in Angers, Damien slipped two cuvees into the official judging of Savennieres by wine critics from all over France.  This contest was almost always won by the same chateau-based properties that had been in Savennieres for decades.  Not only did he win the first prize, but he did so with his youngest vine (and least expensive) cuvee, Cuvee des Genets.  I happened to be there the day that scores were posted, and it was the talk of the show.  Outsiders weren’t supposed to win, but when tasting is blind, politics just don’t count.

 

Two months later, La Revue du Vin de France (France’s top wine publication) proclaimed that he was “undoubtedly the future star of Savennieres….He has brought youth back to what is often a rigid appellation.”  As for Damien, he just wants to make the purest example of Chenin Blanc that he can. 

 

With vines just across the road from those of Vincent Ogereau (the newest encroacher in the village), Damien is bringing his fruit-growing background into the vineyard.  He is experimenting with spraying organic fruit essences onto the vines to confuse some vine sicknesses and with various levels of enherbement to test his vines capacity to produce with much less water. 

 

He produces only two cuvees, and in very different styles.  The first, Cuvee des Genets, is aged almost completely in tank and is easy to get to know much earlier than most Savennieres that are produced.  With a slightly later harvest from younger vines, Genets is redolent of acacia honey, butter, and almonds, with a mineral backbone that reminds us that it is Savennieres. 

 

The second cuvee, Bel Ouvrage, is aged almost completely in wood (2-4 year old barrels) and is produced from Damien’s oldest vines from a terroir that produces a much more powerful, mineral-packed Chenin than Genets.  Picked at optimal maturity, it is often more reserved during the first few years, but possesses a purity of the appellation that is evident very soon. 

savennieres “genets”

 

Cépage:               100% Chenin Blanc

Élevage:              90% aged in tank with 10% in

                          wood for 18 months

Vineyard:            20-40 year old vines in Savennieres

                          on schist and quartz.

 

 

savennieres “bel ouvrage”

 

Cépage:               100% Chenin Blanc

Élevage:              80% in 2-4 year old barrels, 20% in                           tank for 18 months.

Vineyard:            30-50 year old vines in Savennieres

                          on schist, quartz, and limestone.

Damien Laureau