Domaine Guiberteau
Domaine Guiberteau was founded at the beginning of the 20th century by Clément Manguin, great-grandfather of the current owner, Romain. The Domaine then passed to Clément’s son-in-law, Robert Guiberteau, a talented winemaker and one of the founding members of the Saumur cooperative. Robert bought a few acres on the hill of Brézé in 1954 because he saw the great potential of this land. In particular, he bought the Clos des Carmes, which the legendary Curnonsky said was one of the best Grand Crus in the Loire Valley. When Robert retired in 1976, none of his children wanted to take over, and the Domaine was leased.
In 1996, at the end of a lease cycle, Romain Guiberteau, who was completing his law studies, decided to take over the management of his family’s vineyards. The following year, under the guidance of Nady Foucault of Clos Rougeard, Romain produced 5000 bottles of red wine, which he easily sold. This success convinced him to focus on making high-quality wine and slowly get his grapes back from the cooperative.
The Domaine Guiberteau is in Saumur, which is very different from the Loire region. In the Loire, Chenin Blanc and Cabernet Franc are mostly grown on soils with a lot of tufa, which is a porous stone that can store the little rainwater there is and release it when there is a lot of drought in the summer.
The company has 9.4 total acres, 7 of which are located in the great terroir of Brézé. Just over half of the surface is planted with Chenin and the rest with Cabernet Franc, with vines that range in age from 4 to 80 years, with a strong proportion of old vines. In 2000, Romain converted the vineyards to organic management, and in 2003 he began the process towards AB organic certification, which he obtained in 2007.
In a few years, the wines of Domaine Guiberteau have attracted the attention of major international critics, making it one of the most sought-after domaines in Saumur.
