Brendan Stater West

History of Domaine Brendan Stater-West

Brendan Stater-West’s story is one of a career change driven by sheer passion. He arrived in France in 2007 to teach English in Paris and fell in love with wine during his second year of teaching. He worked in Paris wine bars to refine his palate, then was captivated by a bottle of Brézé from Domaine Guiberteau. That encounter with Romain Guiberteau’s Chenin proved decisive. Brendan realized he wanted to produce that same purity, verticality, and limestone-driven tension. He contacted Romain, persistently winning him over with his infectious American charm, and Romain finally agreed to take him under his wing in 2011. Brendan also enrolled in a viticulture and enology program, completed a three-month internship at Clos Cristal to learn horse-drawn vineyard work, and became Guiberteau’s indispensable right-hand man.

In 2015, Romain offered to lease him a hectare of vines at Les Chapaudaises in Bizay, adjacent to his renowned Clos de Guichaux. Brendan did not hesitate. His first vintage, 2015, caused an immediate sensation and sold out within hours. In 2018, he substantially expanded his vineyard with the acquisition of another 2.30 hectares in Brézé, in La Ripaille and L’Ardillon, including old Cabernet Franc and Chenin Blanc vines. Now the owner of approximately three hectares, Brendan continues to work at Guiberteau while running his own estate with the same rigor and pursuit of purity that made his mentor’s reputation.

Terroirs and vines of Domaine Brendan Stater-West

Brendan Stater-West’s vineyard spans two complementary areas of the Saumur appellation, a few miles apart. The first terroir, Les Chapaudaises in Bizay, is a one-hectare plot two kilometers south of the famous Brézé hill. Its profile is characteristic of Brendan’s style: a 40 cm layer of sandy-clay silt resting directly on tuffeau, the soft limestone that gives the wines their verticality, tension, and mineral salinity. This terroir produces Chenin with a "razor-sharp", direct, and precise profile. The vines began their conversion to organic farming in 2010.

The second area, in Brézé, comprises two exceptional sites. L’Ardillon is a 0.5-hectare south-southwest-facing plot of Chenin Blanc planted in the 1960s on clayey silt over limestone. Its 70-year-old vines produce a wine with a more austere, horizontal, and structured profile. La Ripaille is home to Cabernet Franc on sandy silt over limestone, a terroir that gives the red wine a light texture and exceptionally fine tannins. The entire vineyard is farmed organically, though it is not formally certified at this stage.

Winemaking at Domaine Brendan Stater-West

Brendan Stater-West makes wine with the utmost respect for terroir and fruit, using an approach he describes as "inspired by Burgundy" and applies to Chenin Blanc. For the appellation-level Saumur Blanc, whole clusters are pressed directly and fermented with native yeasts in stainless steel tanks for less than a month. The wine then spends six months on fine lees in tank before bottling with light filtration. Very small doses of sulfur are added at each key stage (during pressing, after alcoholic fermentation, and at bottling) to prevent malolactic fermentation and preserve the Chenin’s tension and freshness.

For the single-vineyard cuvées, aging in used barrels is longer: 12 months for Les Chapaudaises (followed by six months in tank) and 18 to 24 months for L’Ardillon in Brézé, whose old vines Brendan believes need more patient aging to express themselves fully. Malolactic fermentation is prevented in all the white cuvées. The Cabernet Franc Saumur Rouge is vinified in stainless steel tanks using either whole clusters or partially destemmed grapes, depending on the vintage. The wines are filtered before bottling to ensure stability and aromatic purity.

The wines of Domaine Brendan Stater-West

Saumur Blanc: Brendan’s entry-level cuvée and an introduction to his wines, from the lower part of Les Chapaudaises in Bizay, where the vines are more vigorous and yields slightly higher. Whole-cluster pressing, fermentation with native yeasts in stainless steel tanks, six months on fine lees, and light filtration before bottling. A vibrant nose of grapefruit, white flowers, and chalk; a lively, precise palate; and a mineral, mouthwatering finish with appealing lemony bitterness. A Chenin Blanc of remarkable purity and tension for its level, directly in keeping with Guiberteau’s style.

Les Chapaudaises (Saumur Blanc): Brendan Stater-West’s signature cuvée and the first wine released under his own label, from the upper part of the Les Chapaudaises plot in Bizay, adjacent to Romain Guiberteau’s Clos de Guichaux. Planted in 2006 and under organic conversion since 2010, the vines grow on 40 cm of sandy-clay silt over tuffeau limestone. Whole-cluster pressing, light settling, and fermentation with native yeasts in stainless steel tanks are followed by 12 months in used barrels and six months in tank before bottling with light filtration. The wine is deliberately made without malolactic fermentation to preserve its tension. Its profile is vertical and razor-sharp, with aromas of green apple, lemon, chalk, and white flowers, a strikingly focused, saline palate, and a long mineral finish. A wine that can evolve for 8 to 10 years.

L’Ardillon, Brézé (Saumur Blanc): An exceptional single-vineyard cuvée from 0.5 hectares of Chenin Blanc planted in the 1960s on a south-southwest-facing site in Brézé. The L’Ardillon plot lies above La Charpenterie, the most renowned plot of Domaine du Collier. Clayey silt over limestone, with old vines more than 70 years of age. Aged for 18 to 24 months in used barrels, without malolactic fermentation. The wine has a more "horizontal", austere profile than Les Chapaudaises, with greater structure and concentration, aromas of ripe stone fruit, wet stone, and fresh walnut, a broad yet taut palate, and a long, complex finish. A fine wine built to age.

Saumur Rouge: A red cuvée made from Cabernet Franc grown on five-year-old vines in La Ripaille, Brézé, on sandy silt over limestone. This soil gives the wine a light texture and exceptionally fine tannins. Aromas of dark berries (blackcurrant and blackberry), violet, and eucalyptus; a fresh, elegant palate; and a delicate mineral finish. A Saumur Cabernet Franc with an airy, precise style, remarkable finesse, and directness.