Château de Fosse-Sèche, 2016 Saumur Rouge “Éolithe”
Cab Franc du Jour #39
Fosse-Sèche has a viticultural history stretching back over 800 years, when the property was first planted to vines by Benedictine monks. It remained in the hands of the church until the French Revolution. The modern story of the estate begins in the 1990s when Belgian brothers Guillaume and Adrien Piré purchased the property. Guillaume studied viticulture and winemaking in Switzerland, and his first vintage at the estate was 1999.
The estate is situated in the commune of Brossay, about 20km southwest of the village of Saumur, in what is something of a geological anomaly for this part of the Loire. The limestone soils that underpin the vineyards of the Central Loire, Touraine, and Saumur are all part of the Paris Basin, a geological formation of sedimentary limestones laid down in layers between approximately 165 and 65 million years ago. The Turonian chalky limestone that forms the bedrock of Bourgueil, Chinon, Saumur-Champigny, and most of Saumur dates to the Cretaceous period within that range. In Brossay, however, a geological fault has over time exposed a small plateau of Jurassic-era limestone, making it older than the tuffeau chalk found elsewhere across these appellations. At Fosse-Sèche, the vineyards are planted on flint, or silex, combined with iron oxides, a soil type known locally as éolithe, which is reflected in the name on the label.
The estate farms a total of around 17 hectares, of which 8 hectares are Cabernet Franc, with vine ages ranging from 10 to 50 years. All of the vines are farmed biodynamically, and the estate operates as a genuine living farm, with other crops, animals, and an apiary from which the family keeps bees and produces honey, creating a balanced and biodiverse ecosystem around the vineyards.
The wine was fermented in a combination of stainless steel and cement with approximately 15 days on skins, then aged on lees for 21 months before bottling.
Wine Details
Producer: Château de Fosse-Sèche
Appellation: Saumur Rouge
Commune: Brossay
Lieu-Dit: Fosse-Sèche
Soil: Silex de Brossay (Jurassic-era flint with high proportion of iron oxide)
Alcohol: 12%