Every year Arnaud Lambert kindly invites his trade customers to a day of tasting and discovery at his beautiful home in St Cyr en Bourg in the Loire valley. Arnaud is a top producer making a large range of wines, each one vinified according to parcel and soil type.
This year we enjoyed a presentation in the troglo cellars during which he explained the main differences between the two areas he grows vines, St Cyr en Bourg and Brézé. Subtle differences in top soil, bedrock, hydration and drainage, wind and rainfall all make themselves apparent in the different wines he makes. His wines have changed and evolved over time as he has devoted more and more time to working and maintaining his soils. The result of this work in the vineyard has been better and better quality grapes and that in turn has enabled him to do less and less in the winery. 10 years ago he was pumping over his red wines ferments daily and macerating for long periods of time whereas today he has no pumps in the winery (so does no pump overs at all) and the reds have a gentle maceration of just 10 days. He puts this down to working his soils.
Tasting his top reds with a steak tartare
Arnaud explaining terroir
And two different whites paired with a tuna tartare
The beautiful garden
Another wine another terroir
The results of concentrating on your soil demonstrated in the glass
And a lovely relaxed lunch of fouées cooked in the old bread oven served with local rillettes, smoked salmon and goat’s cheese
His white wines from Brézé are some of our favourite wines in the region. Clean and straight with finely tuned precision, beautiful minerality and mouthwatering acidity, they are beautifully crafted. This Burgundian approach has led to wonderful wines both red and white and his new labels reflect his approach.
