{"title":"Domaine du Collier | Saumur","description":"\u003ch3\u003e\u003cimg src=\"https:\/\/www.monarchwinemerchants.com\/cdn\/shop\/articles\/ee56d15c-9409-57fe-c042-00fcaee7eca5_1100x.jpg?v=1701128348\" class=\"sFlh5c FyHeAf iPVvYb\" alt=\"Newsletter: 2019 Domaine Du Collier Saumur Blanc – Monarch Wine Merchants\" style=\"display: block; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;\"\u003e\u003c\/h3\u003e\n\u003cp style=\"text-align: center;\"\u003eDomaine du Collier has emerged as one of the most compelling estates in the Loire Valley, producing remarkably distinctive expressions of Chenin Blanc and Cabernet Franc from the limestone-rich terroirs of Saumur. The domaine was founded in 1999 by \u003cstrong\u003eAntoine Foucault and Caroline Boireau\u003c\/strong\u003e, when Antoine was just 26 years old. Antoine is the son of the late Charly Foucault, one half of the legendary Foucault brothers behind Clos Rougeard, and spent four years working alongside his father and uncle, Charly and Nady, before establishing his own estate. The name Domaine du Collier comes from the Place du Collier, where the family home is located.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp style=\"text-align: center;\"\u003eThe domaine began with four hectares of vines acquired through Antoine’s family in Brézé and has since grown to around six to seven hectares, while production remains tiny at roughly 1,250 cases annually. Chenin Blanc forms the heart of the estate, including parcels of exceptionally old vines, some more than 100 years of age, alongside a much smaller planting of Cabernet Franc. Antoine quickly recognised that the poor, stony, limestone-dominated soils around Brézé were particularly suited to Chenin. While his family’s reputation at Clos Rougeard had been built largely around Cabernet Franc, Domaine du Collier has developed an identity equally—if not more strongly—through its profound, long-lived white wines.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp style=\"text-align: center;\"\u003eAntoine's approach is uncompromising in both vineyard and cellar. The vineyards are farmed organically, without chemical fertilisers or herbicides, and the soils are worked to encourage the roots deep into the underlying chalky \u003cstrong\u003etuffeau\u003c\/strong\u003e limestone. Harvesting is entirely by hand, with rigorous sorting carried out in the vineyard. In the cellar, fermentations occur naturally with indigenous yeasts, followed by exceptionally long élevage, often \u003cstrong\u003e24 to 36 months without racking\u003c\/strong\u003e. Sulphur is avoided throughout élevage and used only at bottling. Perhaps most importantly, the wines mature in an extraordinarily cold underground cellar that forms part of the same extensive network of caves associated with Clos Rougeard. This slow, cool maturation contributes to the remarkable patience these wines demand and their unusually gradual evolution in bottle.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp style=\"text-align: center;\"\u003eThere is considerable power and substance to Domaine du Collier, yet the defining qualities are \u003cstrong\u003eclarity, precision and minerality rather than sheer weight\u003c\/strong\u003e. The wines can be intensely concentrated, but they retain an almost ethereal lift and finely detailed structure. This combination of power and delicacy has made the domaine particularly admired among serious followers of both Chenin Blanc and Cabernet Franc. They are also wines built for the cellar: youthful examples can be tightly wound and reserved, gradually revealing greater complexity and dimension with age.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp style=\"text-align: center;\"\u003eThe principal white, \u003cstrong\u003eSaumur Blanc\u003c\/strong\u003e, comes from mature Chenin Blanc vines, approximately 20 to 75 years old, grown predominantly on clay-limestone soils and cropped at low yields. Even in its youth it possesses remarkable depth and concentration, but—as with the greatest expressions of Chenin—its real complexity emerges through bottle age. Above this sits \u003cstrong\u003eSaumur Blanc ‘La Charpentrie’\u003c\/strong\u003e, produced from the domaine’s oldest Chenin vines, including vines exceeding 100 years of age. It takes the intensity and mineral character of the estate to another level, with additional concentration, depth and extraordinary ageing potential.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp style=\"text-align: center;\"\u003eFor red, \u003cstrong\u003eSaumur Rouge ‘La Ripaille’\u003c\/strong\u003e represents Antoine’s interpretation of Cabernet Franc. It combines the grape's savoury, mineral character with considerable resonance and depth, yet remains remarkably precise and finely detailed. There is an inevitable connection to Clos Rougeard through Antoine’s family and formative experience, but Domaine du Collier has developed a personality entirely its own. Today, rather than simply being regarded as an offshoot of one of the Loire's most celebrated domaines, \u003cstrong\u003eDomaine du Collier stands among Saumur's great estates in its own right\u003c\/strong\u003e—tiny in production, uncompromising in approach and capable of producing some of the Loire Valley’s most profound and age-worthy wines.\u003c\/p\u003e","products":[{"product_id":"domaine-du-collier-saumur-blanc-2022","title":"Domaine du Collier Saumur Blanc 2022","description":"\u003cp\u003e\u003cspan style=\"color: #000000; font-family: georgia, times, times new roman, serif;\"\u003e\u003cspan\u003eThe 2022, a warm vintage has added power and sapid depth to the usual brightness and levity. That it is a wine from grapes grown in stone and then aged in a stone cellar is evident - this is totally crystalline, seemingly hewn purely from the stones that lie in the ground from which it comes - floating on top as usual is the entrancing citrus and floral perfume. In 2022 there is again great freshness and clarity - it has real presence and drive the finish is chiselled in the mouth displaying cut and salinity alongside powerful tension - it finishes with the sort of gravitas to make you ponder. Mouthwatering acidity, a fine substance, a vivacious finish - there is greatness here.  \u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cem\u003eThe 2022 Saumur Blanc, which Foucault calls his \"domaine\" wine, has held up incredibly well despite the warm, dry conditions of the vintage. This barrel sample offers up notable delicacy. Its purity and clarity is second to none, with very fine detail. Yes, there's a sense of flesh on the mid-palate, and it's certainly more charming than the chiseled 2021, but it remains precise and delicate. The 2022 won't be released until 2025. I can't wait to get some.\u003c\/em\u003e\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/span\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cspan\u003e\u003cstrong\u003e93-95\/100 - Rebecca Gibb MW\u003c\/strong\u003e\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"ANDREW GUARD","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":44086204334198,"sku":null,"price":170.0,"currency_code":"AUD","in_stock":true}]},{"product_id":"domaine-du-collier-saumur-blanc-charpentrie-2022","title":"Domaine du Collier Saumur Blanc 'Charpentrie' 2022","description":"\u003cp\u003e\u003cspan style=\"color: #000000; font-family: georgia, times, times new roman, serif;\"\u003e\u003cspan\u003eAlways an incredible wine, this is produced from an old vine parcel (\u0026gt;100 years) in the lieu-dit of 'La Charpentrie' in Brézé. Deeper and more sombre than the wine above always with a fine precision. Thrilling, complex scents of lime, flowers and pineapple give way brightly citric, concentrated palate, underpinned by chalky, mineral elements. This has more power and tension than the Saumur Blanc (if that is even possible!) - it is simply a wine for the ages. This rare bottling is one of the great white wines of France.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cem\u003eThe 2022 Saumur Blanc La Charpentrie offers wonderful precision and an other-worldly cloud of Chenin Blanc. While tender and silken, there's an innate power coursing through its fine core, providing line and persistence. I don't use the word minerality willy-nilly, but if there is a wine that evokes that response, here it is. The finish is incredibly long with a salty string of acidity and a lingering chalky texture.\u003c\/em\u003e\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/span\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cspan\u003e\u003cstrong\u003e95-97\/100 - Rebecca Gibb MW \u003c\/strong\u003e\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"ANDREW GUARD","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":44086206595190,"sku":null,"price":249.0,"currency_code":"AUD","in_stock":true}]},{"product_id":"domaine-du-collier-saumur-champigny-2022","title":"Domaine du Collier Saumur-Champigny 2022","description":"\u003cp\u003e\u003cspan style=\"color: #000000; font-family: georgia, times, times new roman, serif;\"\u003e\u003cspan\u003eThis 2022 Saumur-Champigny is from old vines near his house in Saumoussay, I am so pleased to see that he has been able to produce one as land is incredibly tightly held, apparently you can't buy vines here anymore, you have to swap. This is silken and glows with perfumed and joyous dark fruits and flowers. The carnal depth is juxtaposed to an incredible purity. This is a beauty for the cellar.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cem\u003eThe 2022 Domaine du Collier offers up a pure, gourmand bouquet of violet, blueberries, spices and licorice, followed by a medium-bodied, pure and precise, satiny and lively mid-palate, concluding with a saline finish.\u003c\/em\u003e\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/span\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cspan\u003e\u003cstrong\u003e92\/100 - Rebecca Gibb MW \u003c\/strong\u003e\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"ANDREW GUARD","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":44086220259446,"sku":null,"price":189.0,"currency_code":"AUD","in_stock":true}]},{"product_id":"domaine-du-collier-saumur-rouge-charpentrie-2022","title":"Domaine du Collier Saumur Rouge 'Charpentrie' 2022","description":"\u003cp\u003e\u003cspan style=\"color: #000000; font-family: georgia, times, times new roman, serif;\"\u003e\u003cspan\u003e\u003cem\u003eThe tiny Domaine du Collier near Saumur belongs to Antoine Foucault, son of the legendary Charly Foucault of Clos Rougeard. After studying in Bordeaux and working for many years at Clos Rougeard, Antoine wanted to realize his own vision and founded his Domaine du Collier in 1999. The 6.5 hectares are cultivated biodynamically. Cabernet Franc covers a mere 2.5 hectares of the estate, making it even rarer than the white wines. La Charpentrie is an ancient vineyard in the legendary Brézé region. Old vines grow on tuff soil. Spontaneously fermented, like everything else. Aging takes place without intervention in used barriques in the deep tuff cellar. Two to three years in the barrel on the lees without racking, minimal sulfites added at bottling. These are archetypal Loire Cabernets with cool, vibrant fruit full of finesse that makes the Loire so authentic. Simply wonderful wines with legendary aging potential. \u003c\/em\u003e\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/span\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cspan\u003e\u003cstrong\u003e95-96\/100 - Heiner Lobenberg - Gute Weine \u003c\/strong\u003e\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"ANDREW GUARD","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":44086232678518,"sku":null,"price":249.0,"currency_code":"AUD","in_stock":true}]},{"product_id":"domaine-du-collier-saumur-rouge-la-ripaille-2022","title":"Domaine du Collier Saumur Rouge 'La Ripaille' 2022","description":"\u003cp\u003e\u003cspan style=\"color: #000000; font-family: georgia, times, times new roman, serif;\"\u003e\u003cspan\u003eAntoine Foucaults’ 2022 Saumur Rouge La Ripaille follows the magical form of this wine and like the 2021 it glows in the glass and displays deep set aromas of concentrated blackberry, cassis and attractive leafy notes. Exquisite, and as with all his wines, Antoine has captured a wonderful dimension in this wine that comes across like a hypothetical blend of Volnay (silky, silky) and Saint-Émilion (depth, substance). Sumptuousness aligned to elegance follows, displaying a rich mineral depth and a superb sense of fruit and tannin sweetness that only the best wines do. As attractive as it is to drink now it will probably reach it's peak in 10-20 years, maybe longer... \u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/span\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cem\u003e\u003cspan\u003eSourced from a single parcel in Brézé, La Ripaille is one of Antoine Foucault's purest expressions of Cabernet Franc. Compared with La Charpentrie, it is often the more immediately approachable wine, offering vibrant red and black berry fruit, crushed stone minerality, savoury spice and finely etched tannins. The hallmark freshness of Saumur is complemented by remarkable concentration and precision, while the domaine's extended élevage gives the wine exceptional texture and seamless integration.\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/em\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cspan\u003e\u003cstrong\u003e94-96\/100 - Heiner Lobenberg - Gute Weine\u003c\/strong\u003e\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"ANDREW GUARD","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":44086235496566,"sku":null,"price":189.0,"currency_code":"AUD","in_stock":true}]}],"url":"https:\/\/huntershillwineroom.com.au\/collections\/domaine-du-collier-saumur.oembed","provider":"Hunters Hill Wine Room","version":"1.0","type":"link"}