Domaine Guiberteau

The estate is located 12 km south of Saumur, in the village of Saint-Just-sur-Dive and has produced wines under Saumur appellation since 1996.

The foundation of the Domaine Guiberteau was established by Clément Manguin, the great grandfather of current owner, Romain Guiberteau, in the early 1900s. The estate was passed to Clément's son-in-law, Robert Guiberteau, who was a skillful winemaker and co-founder of Saumur. He showed a great commitment and input on developing estate and its wines during his era. He recognized the great potential of Saumur terroir and in 1954 he purchased several hectares of land on the hill of Brézé, in particular the Clos des Carmes, which was considered by the Prince of Gastronomy, Curnonsky, as one of the grand crus of the Loire Valley. When Robert retired in 1976 none of his children wanted to take over and the domaine was farmed out.

Domaine Guiberteau hanged loose after Robert Guiberteau retired in 1976. None of his children were willing to continue working, so the vineyards were rented to a local farmer. Robert's grandson Romain was interested in returning the nurseries to the family again, and this happened in 1996. After receiving consulting help from the Foucault (Clos Rougeard) brothers, Romain decided to abandon chemical pesticides and since 2007 the house has been certified organic. There are currently 17 hectares of orchards.

The vineyard covers 17 hectares, in the communes of Bizay, Brézé, Chacé, Montreuil Bellay and Saint-Just-sur-Dive.

Only two varieties are cultivated: Cabernet Franc and Chenin Blanc.

The vines are from 5 to over 80 years old.

The vineyard has been conducted in Organic Farming since 2003: the soils are worked under the rows and naturally grassed. All synthetic products are prohibited: only sulfur, copper, essential oils and plant decoctions are used. The harvest is done manually.

Romain Guiberteau gathers its grapes much earlier than in the region in general, in order to maintain a lively freshness and acidity in its wines. Romain focuses more on the optimal ripeness of the grape skins than on the ripeness of the seeds. 

In winemaking, the minimum amount of sulfur is used before bottling. There is no addition of yeasts, enzymes, stabilizers.

Chenin Blanc is always pressed in whole bunches, no batonnage, no malolactic fermentation, no racking, usually light filtration, no brightening.

Cabernet Franc is always 100% destemmed and the skin contact is done in delicate way – more infusion style with less extraction, just light pigeage by hand. No racking, usually light filtration, no brightening. The aging of the wines takes place in steel tanks, cement and oak barrels.
The new oak is partially used for the Brézé, Clos des Carmes and Arboises cuvées.