Le P'tit Domaine Saumur-Champigny 2012

A little known-fact about the kind, generous, and gregarious Richard Desouche is that while he produces wines under his own Le P'tit Domaine label, he is also one of the talented individuals working in the vineyard for the team at the famed Clos Rougeard estate in Saumur-Champigny. Often asked for input and advice by longtime-friend Nady Foucault, Richard’s winemaking prowess is clearly recognized by the region's best. We are proud to be representing Richard in California for the first time. As a young man, winemaker Richard first began his career with years of training and a degree in Business, not knowing that years later he would be producing some of the finest winest in all of the Loire Valley. In 2006, after having learned the ropes through various roles in the world of wine including working with a négociant in Saumur, and time spent with the famed Didier Sanzay (also his cousin) in Saumur-Champigny, Richard decided to set out on his own. Starting small, with his first wines being made at the Clos Rougeard facility, and now converted to entirely certified organic farming, Richard began slowly at first with the purchase of only a single hectare. He has now grown to a still modest 4.5 hectares, bolstered by his recent purchase of the Clos Lintier, and has recently purchased his own winemaking facility featuring deep tuffeaux caves. Despite the growth of the business his production size of elegant, refined, and immensely pure expressions of Saumur and Saumur-Champigny's terroirs remains extremely small. The wines of Le P'tit Domaine are produced from half-century-old Cabernet Franc and Chenin Blanc vines situated in the villages of Dampierre and Varrains. Grapes are hand harvested, and always only into small bins to protect the freshness and purity of the berries. The wines are vinified carefully, in a style typically "Burgundian", meaning primary fermentation in cuve or used barrel, then a long, quiet elevage again in used barrels.