Foreau - Clos Naudin

The history of Château de Fosse-Sèche

The site’s history reaches back to the Middle Ages and even earlier: Benedictine monks planted vines here more than eight centuries ago to make wine for the parish, and a document from 1238 already refers to the residence by its Latin name, Fossa Sicca. The lordship then belonged to the priory of Saint-Pierre de Montreuil-Bellay and remained Church property for several centuries, until the Revolution. The estate retains traces of this past: some of France’s oldest masonry wine vats, a 16th-century château wall, a communal oven, a chapel and a dovecote. It was also here that, in 1905, winemaker Paul Taveau conducted new winemaking trials and developed the famous Cabernet d’Anjou, which won awards at the 1905 Liège and 1910 Brussels World’s Fairs.

The modern chapter begins in 1998, when Belgian-born Guillaume Pire arrives with his mother and stepfather after they leave their vineyard in Madagascar. Raised between West Africa and Madagascar, the Pire brothers find an estate in poor condition but with immense potential. Guillaume takes charge of winemaking and sales, and his twin brother Adrien joins him in 2010 with his partner Cécile to tend the vines. In 2012, the two couples officially take over the property and begin converting it to biodynamics. Long produced under the Saumur AOC, most of the wines are now deliberately labeled Vin de France, a choice that gives them the freedom to preserve the pure identity of the estate’s Cabernets.

The terroirs and vines of Château de Fosse-Sèche

The vineyard sits at the edge of the Brossay plateau, where a geological fault has exposed a small shelf of Jurassic limestone, far older than the Cretaceous tuffeau beneath the rest of the Saumur region. Above it lie soils of fractured flint and iron oxides, known locally as éolithe, a name the estate gave to its best-known cuvée. This stony ground, almost devoid of active limestone and clay, holds little water: roots reach deep and yields remain naturally low, at around 20 to 30 hectoliters per hectare. The flint stones absorb heat during the day and release it at night, while winds across the plateau keep the grapes cool and healthy.

The red wines are made from Cabernet Franc and Cabernet Sauvignon, while the whites combine Chenin with a touch of Chardonnay. But what truly sets the estate apart is its setting: vines occupy only a third of the property, surrounded by a rich tapestry of vegetation, two large forests, replanted hedges, trees and flowers, ponds created for amphibians, bat boxes, beehives and even a herd of goats and sheep. This restored ecosystem naturally regulates the vineyard’s balance. Cultivation has been certified organic since the mid-2000s and biodynamic since 2012, with Ecocert and Biodyvin certifications.

Winemaking at Château de Fosse-Sèche

In the winery, the philosophy comes down to one idea: gentle extraction and plenty of patience. The grapes are harvested and sorted by hand. Alcoholic fermentation begins solely with indigenous yeasts and sometimes stretches over several months at low temperatures to preserve the fruit and aromatic finesse. Guillaume Pire seeks taut, mineral wines with restrained extraction and remarkable length, rather than powerful, showy reds.

The cellar holds an impressive row of egg-shaped tanks inspired by ancient amphorae, made from clay, hydraulic lime and clay-rich sand. This porous natural concrete allows slow micro-oxygenation and excellent temperature stability without imparting any oak flavor, letting the fruit and terroir speak for themselves. Aging in these vessels can last up to thirty months for wines intended for cellaring, with a proportion of barrel aging depending on the vintage. The wines are bottled with minimal added sulfites and often need decanting to reveal themselves fully: they are built to age.

The cuvées of Château de Fosse-Sèche

Éolithe rouge is the estate’s signature cuvée and one of the Loire’s finest expressions of Cabernet Franc. A blend dominated by Cabernet Franc with a little Cabernet Sauvignon, it is vinified at low temperature with very restrained extraction, then aged partly in barrels and partly in egg-shaped clay-concrete tanks. The nose opens with floral notes, fresh red fruit, forest floor and a touch of graphite typical of flint. The palate surprises with its precision, soft texture, fine tannins and remarkable drinkability, leading to a long, mineral and saline finish. Decant for an hour and serve at 16–18°C with red meat, game birds or a dish in sauce.

Arcane blanc is the estate’s flagship white, a characterful Chenin that ranks among the appellation’s benchmark wines. Harvested at full ripeness and aged at length, it combines power and elegance with remarkable ease. The nose offers white flowers, honey, pear, quince and ripe yellow fruit. Rich and full-bodied yet beautifully balanced, the palate has a refined bitterness and freshness that lifts the finish. Impressively consistent from vintage to vintage, it has excellent aging potential and pairs with fish in sauce, carp, sashimi, tempura, or Thai and Vietnamese cuisine.

Réserve du Pigeonnier takes its name from the restored 16th-century dovecote on the property and is the estate’s fine red wine for aging. It comes exclusively from the oldest vine rows, with an exceptionally low yield of around 12 hectoliters per hectare, a long maceration at very low temperature and aging for up to thirty months in egg-shaped clay-concrete amphorae. Its ruby color with garnet highlights precedes a nose of exceptional aromatic ripeness, with summer red fruit, peony, spice and fine leather. The palate has greater depth and body than Éolithe, with intense mineral expression and the ability to age for decades. An exceptional wine that should be decanted and served cool, then allowed to warm gradually.

Les Tris de la Chapelle is the estate’s rare and fascinating cuvée: a Chenin made from successive selections of botrytized grapes but vinified as a completely dry white, then aged for around twelve months in barrels. This unconventional approach produces a wine of unusual density and complexity, with candied fruit, wax, gentle spice and saline minerality, underpinned by a balance that hints at enormous aging potential. Produced in very limited quantities, it is among Fosse-Sèche’s most sought-after bottles.

Clé de Voûte is part of the estate’s heritage, a selected red cuvée made in certain vintages and now sought after in older bottles. Grown on the same flint and iron-oxide soils, it has a tight structure, deep black fruit and graphite-like minerality, with the youthful austerity typical of Fosse-Sèche wines. It needs patience before opening up to a complex array of spice notes.