Clotilde is the first female winemaker in an extremely long lineage dating back to the 17th Century. One of the earliest recorded producers in Saumur-Champigny, The Legrand Family farm 16 hectares of Cabernet Franc on twenty separate parcels across Saumur, Dampierre, Chacé, Varrains and Souzy-Champigny. Vines date back an average of 45 years and the very oldest to 1927. A single small clos of Chenin on gentle slopes sires their Saumur Blanc, surrounded by decrepit local stone walls. Soils are limestone and chalk, tufa, the most sought after of the vicinity. Ancient cellars were fashioned from these limestone soils, littered with fossils, some over a thousand years old.
Wines are aged in the tuffa cellar for two years on average in 500 litre oak barrels. Harvest is manual and vinification is made without sulphur. Grapes are destemmed and left on the skins for five weeks, when malolactic takes place. Elevage lasts as long as 30 months for Saumur-Champigny.
Wines are aged in the tuffa cellar for two years on average in 500 litre oak barrels. Harvest is manual and vinification is made without sulphur. Grapes are destemmed and left on the skins for five weeks, when malolactic takes place. Elevage lasts as long as 30 months for Saumur-Champigny.
