Loire Valley Wine Region:
Château du Hureau Saumur-Champigny
The Château du Hureau is located in the small town of Dampierre sur Loire, about four miles east of Saumur and 15 miles west of Chinon. The Château itself is an impressive sight, with its 18th-century Mansard roof and octagonal tower topped by a boar-headed weathercock, from which the domaine takes its name -- a hureau is an old, solitary wild boar. Behind the Château sits the winery carved out of the Limestone cliffs in the 13th century and overlooking the Loire river. For wine lovers, the cave is even more impressive than the Château, with numerous paths leading to carved out caverns housing stainless steel vinification equipment and lines of barrels. It reminds one of being in a James Bond movie!
Philippe Vatan was thrust into the limelight at the Château du Hureau by the tragic and untimely death of his brother in 1987. Involved in a completely different business up until this time, it is testament to his fortitude and skills as vigneron that he has made such a success of this domaine, now considered one of the top in the appellation.
Philippe Vatan
Seventeen hectares (42 acres) including 21 separate vineyard plots are spread around the towns of Dampierre Sur Loire, Souzay, Champigny and Saumur and are planted with Cabernet Franc. What links all of the plots is "tuffeau" (tufa/limestone), a kind of soft chalk from the Cretaceous period (146 to 65 million years ago). In latin "creta" means chalk. The underlying tuffeau is the overriding factor in Saumur-Champigny's distinctive quality. However, the varying layers of topsoil (it's either fertile clay or a sandy type of soil) and diverse sun exposure obviously affect every vineyards personality, expression and importance in the various cuvées.
A group of vineyards spread over seventeen separate plots of young and old vines (some are 70 years old) produce the regular Saumur Champigny bottling. The suppression of the secondary buds in the spring (ébourgeonnage), the summertime crop-thinning éclaircissage), the selection during the picking, the long fermentations (25 to 30 days) and the élevage (élevage) lasting from 10 to 20 months in the tuffeau cellars, all contribute to the elaboration of a red wine which is rich, smooth and supple on your palate. It can age from two to seven years.
The Cuvée Lisagathe is named after Vatan's two daughter, Lisa et Agathe. The parcels used for this cuvée go through two sessions of crop-thinning (éclaircissage) during summer and is, so to speak, the Château du Hureau's baby. This is a grand crû which reaches full ripeness year after year. When lucky enough to be blessed by a gorgeous end of season, the wine is simply brilliant. The composition of the topsoil (a higher percentage of fertile clay) is most likely the reason why the silky and mellow tannins are so impressive. They also are the guarantee of a very long ageing potential. Like with the first cuvée, the grapes are entirely harvested by hand.
Philippe Vatan showing off the 1945 he'ss about
to crack open and share, January 2005
For centuries, Dampierre has been considered as the place for Saumur Blanc. Justly so, a white wine is also produced at the domaine made with pure chenin blanc. With short pruning and green-harvesting (éclaircissage), the 2,5 hectares (6 acres) yield a limited quantity of grapes (two tons to the acre) of exceptional quality. The hand-picking is done in several stages, up to five times in a single year. Depending on the percentage of golden and of naturally raisined grapes (passerillage), the presence or not of noble rot, the grapes are either vinified dry and released as Saumur Blanc, or sweet and released as Coteaux de Saumur. Vatan endeavours to keep up with these high standards, hence the hand-picking of the ripest grapes in several stages, the lenghty élevage sur lie in oak barrels, two vital elements in the vinification of rich and powerfully built white wines that will age over long periods of time.
 Saumur Champigny: Lovely deep ruby color. Forward, fruity aromas of blackberry, raspberry and fine herbs. Well-integrated tannins make this very versatile at the table, and highly enjoyable with a slight chill.
Saumur Champigny Cuvée Lisagathe: Deep purple. Glycerin coats the inside of the glass. Plenty of aromas (blackberry, raspberry, cherry) along with a finishing licorice note. Fruity enough to enjoy now, this will also keep for 10 years. (2005) "Monumental wine with a huge depth of fruit. Dark crimson hue. Powerful, ripe and restrained. Tannins dense but rounded. Tank aged." ***** Decanter, November 2006
Saumur Blanc: Precise Chenin aromas of baked apple, honey and wet stones. With aeration, aromas akin to apricot and marshmellow also surface. Clean, dry finish with good underlying acidity. A wonderful alternative to Vouvray.
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