Damien
Laureau (1999)
Damien
Laureau was born in Versailles
to a family of cereal farmers. However, his older brother was destined to
take charge of the family farm, so Damien decided to move to Angers and
work for his uncle, Jean-Louis Laureau, who owns pear orchards in Frémur
and a vineyard in Ste-Gemme-sur-Loire. Together they created a small
domaine in the mid 1990s making simple Anjou Rouge and Blanc. It was from
here that Damien’s interest in wine began. He believes it was fate that
bought him to Anjou, and he remains essentially a self-taught vigneron.
In 1999, Laureau had the opportunity to rent a 5.5ha parcel in the Moulin
de Beaupréau from Madame De Vaulchier, after the previous occupant went
bankrupt. He added to his holdings in Savennières in 2007 renting a
quarter hectare in La Roche aux Moines and a further 1.3 hectares in ‘Chambourcier’,
a parcel on the plateau of Epiré bought from the Soulez family. Also in
2007, Damien left Frémur, purchasing the cellar erected by Emile Benon in
Epiré in 1994.
Wine
Overview:
Laureau
makes two expressions of Savennières. Until now, both have come off the
same, single parcel. ‘Les Genêts’ is raised in fibre glass tanks for
18 months and has around one-third of the malolactic fermentation
completed, whilst ‘Le Bel Ouvrage’ is aged for one year in fibreglass
but also spends a further year in 300 and 500 litre barrels, some sourced
from Château d’Yquem. For the 2007 harvest, he conducted a detailed
experiment by separating out the two soil components for the two different
cuvées. Although passing through the vines two or three times is quite
normal in the appellation, selecting grapes based on the soil type offers
a different proposition. The lighter sandier cuvettes were selected for ‘Les Genêts’, whilst those vines on
the more serious clay and exposed schist were harvested for ‘Le Bel
Ouvrage’. The complexity of the exercise was compounded by there being
different picking dates for each of the two cuvées, with a second passage of botrytised berries being harvested for ‘Le Bel Ouvrage’.
Laureau says the experiment was not as complicated as it sounds, as it was
easy to determine the vines grown on clay by the premature yellowing
leaves. As regards the first crop off ‘Chambourcier’ and La Roche aux
Moines (the equivalent of one and a half barrels), these have both been
blended into ‘Le Bel Ouvrage’ for this first vintage.
The
Wines:
Despite
being self taught, the very friendly and likeable Damien Laureau has
clearly worked his apprenticeship here, and after ten years of being
active in Savennières is now carving out some of the appellations best
wines. Laureau is a grower to follow for
the future.
2008
‘Le Bel Ouvrage’
Polished yellow appearance. Complex nose, with some oak showing with some
positive high-toned character. Attractive and appealing. Rich on entry.
Authentic with excellent focus. Crisp and clean but with weight and
structure to match. Still youthful and a little unresolved. Needs time but
very promising. (02/11)
2007
‘Les Genêts’
2005
‘Les Genêts’
Bright.
Pale straw. Clean, oatmeal and cereal nose. Gentle with a hint if honey
behind. Delicate, open and attractive palate. Serious, taut and stony with
lemon/citrus acidity. Very mineral and elegant style. Drinking well now,
but will hold and continue to evolve. Very good. (02/08)
2005
‘Le Bel Ouvrage’
Pale
straw with green hints. Smoky, even meaty. Delicate. The wood shows a
little. Restrained nose, but shows promise. The palate is more open. Fresh
and lively with great intensity, but with balance and poise. Linear. The
wood only adds to the texture, complexity and weight. Still very youthful
and needs time. Infanticide to drink now. Great potential. (02/08)
2004
‘Les Genêts’
Pale
straw appearance. Open and attractive nose. Broader than the 2005. Some
white flowers suggesting maturity, although still shows freshness. Gentle
on entry. Good freshness with balancing mid palate richness. Very stony
and linear finish. Taut acidity but good flesh. Still very youthful
although approachable. This would benefit from a couple more years in
bottle. (02/08)
2004
‘Le Bel Ouvrage’
Mid-pale.
Straw appearance. Delicate but rounded. Quite closed, but shows quality.
The palate is more expressive, building well. Very good density, texture
and complexity with a mineral edge to the acidity. This is still very
youthful but shows real class. (02/08)
2003
‘Les Genêts’
Polished.
Straw appearance with green hints. Broad and floral nose with white
flowers suggesting advanced maturity. Broad and rich on the palate with
some evidence of residual sugar. Fat and quite flabby, showing the
alcohol. Short on the finish and lacks freshness and acidity. Drink now.
Unlikely to improve. (02/08)
2003
‘Le Bel Ouvrage’
Bright.
Mid-pale. Straw yellow appearance. Broad, waxy, lanolin nose with some
coconut, although currently not very expressive. The palate is much better
with good balance and not over ripe. The wood shows a little, and there
are some tannins which help to add to the texture. This is a serious wine;
approachable now but should age further. (02/08)
2002
‘Les Genêts’
Polished.
Mid-depth with some green hints. Delicate but advanced nose. Quite floral
with some terpine character. Appears quite ripe and sweet on the palate;
more Riesling than Chenin in its flavours profile. The acidity to shows to
the finish. Less proficient. Drink now. (02/08)
2002
‘Le Bel Ouvrage’
Mid
full, yellow/gold. Broad nose showing some maturity. Some oxidation and
dry on the entry. Broad, low acid and advanced. A bit flat and one
dimensional with more signs of oxidation on the palate. The wine is
loosing its fruit and the acid is starting to dry out the wine. A touch
phenolic on the finish. Drink up. (02/08)
2001
‘Le Bel Ouvrage’
Polished.
Mid-depth. Straw/yellow. Advanced nose of white flowers and terpine.
Showing signs of maturity, although still attractive. Ripe on entry. Shows
a hint of sweetness. This is a riper style. Good acidity although it
stands apart from the wine. Chalky texture with some terpines to the end
of the palate with a faint bitterness. This is starting to dry out. Drink
up. (02/08)
2000
‘Les Genêts’
Pale
straw appearance. Reduction shows on the nose, although attractive in its
own flinty, mineral way. Dry, steely, mineral and taut palate. Long and
linear. This is quite lean and doesn’t show much flesh, although
structurally it is very sound. Floral and a touch herbal. Very good length
and could evolve further should the reductive elements blow off. (02/08)
2000
‘Le Bel Ouvrage’
Youthful
green appearance. Mid-depth. This is more advanced than ‘Les Genêts’
but is classic Chenin. Slightly old fashioned Savennières in style.
Floral, but with an authentic austere edge to the palate. This is ripe,
but shows good linear acidity, although some terpine flavours suggest this
is just going over the top of maturity. Drinking now. Best drink up.
(02/08)
1999
‘Les Genêts’
Damien
Laureau
Chemin
du Grand Hamé
T:
+33 9
64 37 02 57 (bureau)
T: +33 2 41 72 25 54
F:
+33 2 41 72 87 39
damien.laureau@orange.fr
www.damien-laureau.fr