02.12.2020

It is difficult to express how hard we have tried to ship Antoine’s wines. He is in such high demand that they sell out before they even touch glass, and as such he can be quite picky about who he sells too. Its taken 10 years, when I first met him in a dingy tasting room in Angers and numerous visits and tasting with him since, but with my great friend and journalist Christelle Guibert (who also makes amazing Muscadet) we have coaxed him into letting us have an allocation of his latest releases and as such we are very pleased to be able to offer them here, albeit in very limited quantities. 

 

When Antoine Sanzay joined the family domaine in 1999 he was the 6^th generation to do so. Antoine’s journey into the wine world was not a typical smooth succession. Antoine had just turned 10 when, just as his grandfather was verging on retirement, his father tragically passed away.

While Antoine’s father was a wine lover, his grandfather was the opposite. Grape growing was just one element of a polyculture, and by no means the most important to him. What mattered was to work the land for a living, with all the grapes sold to the local co-operative.

With no one to learn from, Antoine started everything from scratch with no mentor nor existing clients. “I didn’t have any inherited legacy or familial pressure.” While having to rely on his wits, this gave great freedom to experiment.  “I think it can be easier for the children to start with a new name than following their father’s legacy with all the baggage that can come with it” admitted Antoine. While he may have learned on his own, he got inspiration and support from many great Loire personalities, including Les Freres Foucault, Thierry Germain, Guy Bossard, Bernard Baudry, Jo Pithon& Jo Landron. In 2002 Antoine made his first vintage.

Antoine slowly started switching to organic practices, away from the chemicals previously used by his grandfather. In 2007, Antoine started experimented in organic viticulture and he converted the vineyards in 2011 and became certified bio and Ecocert in 2014. 2014 was also his first vintage where he bottled his entire production and stopped selling to the local cooperative, Antoine admitted “I started with almost nothing and I needed the local cooperative to help me financially”. 

Throughout the range there is stylistic continuity, with great tension, vibrant fruit harnessed to linear precision. The reds show a brilliantly judged balance between intense fruits, brooding matiere, croquant tannic grip, and a lingering floral element mixed with lovely bite. 

The Wines

Whites

Les Essarts 2018

Only 6000 bottles produced from a 1.16ha vineyard planted with 45 years old vines. The wine has spent 11 months in oak of 600l and shows floral, yellow and citrus fruit with tension and salinity. Great mouthfeel and roundness on the palate.

Les Salles Martin 2018

Only 1000 bottle produced from this single vineyard from relatively young vines of 7 years old. The wine is aged for 11 months in foudre and barrique. The result is an ample style but with tension, precision and purity of fruit. The nose is almost Sauvignon with a lovely subtle oak nuance.

Reds

Saumur Champigny 2018

This is a blend of young and old vines from 5 villages representing a total of 5 hectares. Vinified and aged in concrete tank, this superb entry level cuvee is perfumed and vibrant with vivid crunchy red fruits, combined with a great energy and sappiness.

Les Salles Martin 2018

This is a new addition to the range. 30 years old vines from a 1.9ha vineyard, with only 1000 bottles produced. After approximately 3 weeks of maceration the wine is aged in ceramic jars of 10hl. The result is a fine example showing tension, minerality and finesse. Notes of violets and red fruit come through, and are balanced with very fine and silky tannins and a beautiful salinity on the finish. Ageing potential of 10 years at least.

La Haye Dampierre 2018

From a single vineyard of 1.1 ha from 40 years old vines exposed North and North East. This is the first vineyard to be both pruned and to harvested, as Antoine looks for freshness and crunchiness in the fruit. After 3 weeks of maceration, the wine is aged in concrete eggs. Very pure and floral, with grainy tannins and bite. Showing some austerity and tight right now, this serious cuvee has plenty of depth and will open up in the years to come.

Les Poyeux 2017

Les Poyeux in Saumur represents 30ha in total, with the local Co-op being the biggest single owner with 10ha. This comes from 4.1 ha, spread over 8 plots with south east and south west exposure. Each plot is vinified separately and then blended before being aged in oak ranging from 225l to 600l, before being bottled 2 years after harvest. Lovely depth of fruit with great intensity. The tannins are soft and elegant, and underneath them a deep lingering power.