Château d’Épiré

One of the oldest and most celebrated domaines in Savennières, Château d’Épiré is rich in history, not only for its fabulous architectural rendition of the Petit Trianon of Versailles, but most especially for its exquisite wines. Savennières is situated just southwest of Angers, on the north bank of the Loire River. Vines have been cultivated there since the time of the Romans. The Plantagenet dynasty allowed for the first exports of the wine to be sent to Great Britian in the 11th century. The domaine itself has been in the Bizard family continuously since the 17th century. The current head of the estate is Paul Bizard, who took over for his father, Luc, in 2018. The Bizards own eleven hectares, nine of which are entirely dedicated to the cultivation of Pineau de la Loire, known today as Chenin Blanc. The château is exquisite, but the pièce de résistance is their winery, formerly a Romanesque chapel, which is from the 12th century. Truly a blessed wine!

Despite the beauty and timelessness of the building structures, it is the vineyard for which the domaine is best known. The Savennières from Épiré is regarded as Grand Cru. The domaine works primarily three parcels: La Croix Picot, Le Parc, and Le Hu-Boyau. It is the latter that sits just above another famous vineyard, La Coulée de Serrant. The soils here are rich, and the microclimate is ideal. Southern and south-eastern sun exposure brings ripeness to the grapes, while the proximity to the Loire River keeps the temperatures moderate. The subsoils are comprised of sandstone and schist, and the top soil is a beautiful blue slatey schist that covers the vineyard floors, lending nerve and firmness. We import two cuvées of dry Savennières from Château d’Épiré. Their Cuvée Spéciale is blended by Kermit from their best parcel, and creates a powerful wine, austere within its first two or three years, that develops substantially with age. This cuvée is aged in demi-muids, primarily in traditional but largely abandoned chestnut barrels. The other cuvée, aged in stainless steel, is more accessible young, with floral notes and lip-smacking acidity. Both are delicious and spectacularly complex, and show a value disproportionate to their pedigree.

Technical Information

Wine	Blend	Vine Age	Soil Type	Vineyard Area*
Savennières	Chenin Blanc	Planted in 1965-2013 (average 35 years old)	Schist	8.5 ha
Savennières “Cuvée Spéciale”	Chenin Blanc	Planted in 1988, 1989, 2000, 2017 (average 20 years old)	Phtanite	1.5 ha
Savennières Moelleux	Chenin Blanc	30-55 years	Schist	1 ha
Anjou Rouge Clos de la Cerisaie	Cabernet Franc	Planted in 1973, 1976, 2016 *As of 2020 vintage the red will be only from young vines as they have torn out the old parcels.	Schist	1.5 ha
* "ha" = hectares; one hectare equals roughly two and a half acres

VITICULTURE / VINIFICATION

• The Bizards’ vineyard land sits at the highest point in the Savennières appellation

• Vines are pruned in gobelet

• Cover crop is planted in between every other vineyard row

• Hand harvested

• Grapes are pressed gently by pneumatic press

• Juice rests for 24 hours before being racked into stainless steel cuves for fermentation to begin

•No malolactic fermentation fermentation for white wines

Savennières:

• A blend of parcels from the lieux-dits Le Parc and La Croix Picot
• Fermented and aged in stainless steel tanks

Savennières “Cuvée Spéciale”:

• Bottled specially for Kermit Lynch Wine Merchant

• Sourced exclusively from the domaine's best vineyard, Le Hu-Boyau, a high-lying, well-exposed parcel overlooking the Loire, on stony soils of phtanite (a hard, blueish, siliceous sedimentary rock similar to chert that is extremely rare in the Savennières appellation)

• Fermented in stainless steel tanks

• Aged for up to 9 months sur lie in a combination of old 440-liter chestnut, acacia, and oak demi-muids

Savennières Moelleux:

• Fermentation lasts one month in acacia barrels

• Aged in acacia barrels until April bottling

• 35 grams/Liter residual sugar

• Parcel is located near the Loire river and benefits from the mists from the river, which add in the development of botrytis

Anjou Rouge Clos de la Cerisaie:
• An actual clos, but part of the walls have collapsed
• Fermentation with indigenous yeasts in stainless steel
• Primary fermentation lasts 15 days, with daily pumpovers
• Wine ages in 30 hectoliter stainless steel tanks
• Wine ages until spring and is bottled in April
• Neither filtered nor fined

MISCELLANEA

The Château d’Épiré filters all of its wines except those sold to Kermit Lynch. Why? Sadly, the majority of European consumers and sommeliers are willing to forsake body and taste for perfect stability and sediment-free wines…. Based on my tastings of each over three different vintages, there is a two-point difference between the normal cuvées and the Cuvée Spéciale and another two-point difference between it and Lynch’s unfiltered cuvée.

-Pierre Rovani, The Wine Advocate

It is difficult to imagine another wine from France likely to provide the sheer intellectual marvel we seem to enjoy with every bottle of d’Épiré’s Savennières.

-Bruce Neyers, KLWM

The Cuvée Spéciale is what it usually is, their best parcel, old vines next to the Coulée de Serrant, fermented and raised in demi-muids, and bottled unfiltered. All for us! It is intense with a strong goût de terroir to go with the fruit. It is powerful, coiled like a spring, needs some time, and can age well into the next century.

-Kermit Lynch

Épiré