Friday Fact: If we must…

Winemaker Wednesday: Château la Varière

Tell us about your property (how long it has been in your family, how long you have been making wine there, the

Our property has been passed down from father to son since 1850. We took over from our parents in 1974. The Château la Varière vineyard in Anjou extends over 110 hectares and our second vineyard in Saumur Champigny, Domaine de la Perruche over 44 hectares. Jacques Beaujeau aims to protect the environment and to harvest the most beautiful grapes possible to make wines of an optimal quality.

In 2003, at the Wine and Spirits Competition  in London, Jacques Beaujeau was been nominated “World Best Winemaker”.

What is your favorite vintage and cuvee from your own property and why?

In 1997, we harvested a Bonnezeaux wine that recieved the World Trophy of Botrytis and Icewines at the  International Wine Challenge  in London in 2001.

When you are not drinking your own wines, what are you drinking? What other wines, beers, etc. do you enjoy?

Always in search of quality, Jacques Beaujeau regularly tastes highly rated wines from all the regions of France.

What is your favorite food and what wine would you pair it with?

Jacques always tries to pair food with the wine he serves.  He easily pairs local fish from the Loire River in red sauces with our Loire River soft red wines. Our more tannic Loire River red wines pair well with marinated game and our great sweet wines with a candied apricot tart made by his favorite pâtissier.

Winemaker Wednesday: Roger Champault

Tell us about your property (how long it has been in your family, how long you have been making wine there, the size, any growing philosophy you might have):

The story of our estate begins around 1850 with François CHAMPAULT who set up in Champtin, a little winegrower village near Sancerre. The estate has grown from 2 to 20 hectares in the last 60 years. Claude and Laurent CHAMPAULT,  heirs of this family adventure which has extended for 5 generations, perpetuate the traditional winemaking with the same passion as their elders.

What is your favorite vintage and cuvee from your own property and why?

Sancerre Blanc 2010 “Les Pierris”: to drink very young; on the fruit. Very typical from Sancerre. Sancerre Blanc 2005 “Côte de Champtin”: very good vintage, ample, rich, a lot of roundness and fatness. Sancerre Rouge 2007 “Côte de Champtin”: we find the fruitiness of the Pinot Noir (red fruit) has a good complexity in the mouth and silky tannins.

When you are not drinking your own wines, what are you drinking? What other wines, beers, etc. do you enjoy?

Dry whites in general. The only condition is that has to be good! More specifically, non standard wines which make the palate tired. For the reds, not too high alcohol wines which lack freshness.

What is your favorite food and what wine would you pair it with?

Cheese with great white wines like old Comté with a Jura’s yellow wine or Crottin de Chavignol with a good white Sancerre. Also, red mullet sirloin with red Sancerre.