Fabien Duveau Saumur Les Poyeux 2022

Fabien Duveau is a young winemaker and represents the eighth generation of his family estate, that he became responsible for in 2008, after taking it over from his father. The winery is in Chacé, about three miles southeast of Saumur, on the left bank of the Loire. Chacé is one of the most renowned areas of the region for Saumur-Champigny because of the deep layer of tuffeau and the layers of clay and sandstone over it. Duveau’s cellar and vineyards neighbor the local star, Clos Rougeard.
The vineyards are composed of 20 hectares split among approximately 40 parcels, planted with Chenin Blanc and Cabernet Franc that Fabien converted to organic and biodynamic viticulture (certified by Demeter in 2023) when he came back to the family estate. Duveau and his team practice regenerative agriculture. They put hives in their vineyards, planted shrubs, have sheep for eco-pasturing, plant beans, and allow plants to grow near the vines, like wild strawberries. (fabienduveau-vigneron.fr) Having so many distinct parcels allows Fabien to vinify and age them by different terroirs and configuration of the soils and each wine is labeled by parcel.
Fabien ages his wines in a stunning cellar from the 14th century, where the constant chill and humidity create the perfect environment to store wines. He uses concrete tanks for vinification working with spontaneous fermentations while the aging is done in neutral oak to keep the purity of fruit and terroir. 

The mythical sandy-clay terroir of "Les Poyeux" distinguishes its Chenin with fresh aromas of white flowers and citrus fruit. Vinified entirely in barrels of different ages for twelve months, the wine’s roundness, aromatic richness and minerality give it length on the palate. This site was planted in 1976 and is the only Chenin known to be grown in "Poyeux".