Arnaud Lambert Clos de Midi Saumur Brézé 2020, Loire Valley, France

One of the most talented winemakers in the Loire, Arnaud Lambert is helping to discover the expression and diversity of soils and individual sites (terroirs) in the appellations of Saumur and Saumur-Champigny. The goal is to give expression to each individual terroir and realise each vineyard sites potential through organic viticulture (transitioning to bio-dynamic) and minimal intervention wine-making. 2017 marked an exciting transition for Arnaud’s estate when he united his cuvées from both Brézé (20ha) and Saint Cyr en Bourg (20ha) under one label: Domaine Arnaud Lambert. Arnaud studied wine-making in Dijon and has bought that Burgundian approach to his wine-making and to expressing each vineyard site. The father (Yves)/son team began working together in 2005, and in 2009, they also became managers of the viticultural estate of the Château de Brézé signing a long-term lease which included land in 8 of the clos of Brézé, very old vineyards, each with different soil compositions and site expositions. Brézé is on the rise, today producing some of the most arrestingly mineral, intense Chenin Blanc on the planet. Arnaud Lambert has 21 hectares, and makes stunning single vineyard whites from Clos du Midi, Clos David and Clos de la Rue. These are precise crystal sharp wines in their youth, with enough snap to shock the tongue, but still posses the weight and resonance to expand and slightly soften with age. His wines are stripped down and elemental, ripped with acidity and verve. They plug into the electricity of Brézé’s limestone soils.