Fosse Seche

Wines from Château de Fosse-Sèche: buy at the best price

Located in Brossay, just outside Saumur in the Loire Valley, Château de Fosse-Sèche is a one-of-a-kind estate. Its 45 contiguous hectares include around 15 hectares of vines, with the rest devoted entirely to biodiversity: forests, wildflower meadows, ponds, beehives and an official bird sanctuary recognized by the Ligue de Protection des Oiseaux. Run by twin brothers Guillaume and Adrien Pire and their partners, the vineyard sits on Jurassic terroir of flint and iron oxide known as eolith—a geological anomaly in a Saumur region dominated by tuffeau limestone. Certified organic and then biodynamic, and a member of Biodyvin, the estate produces Cabernets acclaimed worldwide for their purity and Chenins of rare depth. 

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Fosse Sèche Eolithe 2023
1 in stock
127988
Red
75cl
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Vin de France | Vin de France

Fosse Sèche Eolithe 2023

€26.40 inc-VAT per bottle
€22.00 ex-VAT
The TOP winemakers of Loire

History of Château de Fosse-Sèche

The site’s history goes 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 mentions the residence by its Latin name, Fossa Sicca. The lordship then belonged to the Saint-Pierre priory of Montreuil-Bellay and remained church property for several centuries, until the Revolution. The estate preserves 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, in 1905, that winemaker Paul Taveau carried out new winemaking trials and developed the celebrated Cabernet d’Anjou, which won awards at the 1905 Liège and 1910 Brussels World’s Fairs.

The modern chapter began in 1998, when Belgian-born Guillaume Pire arrived with his mother and stepfather after they left their vineyard in Madagascar. Raised between West Africa and the Great Island, the Pire brothers found an estate in poor condition but with immense potential. Guillaume took charge of winemaking and sales; his twin brother Adrien joined him in 2010 with his partner Cécile to manage the vineyard work. In 2012, the two couples formally took over the property and began its conversion 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. They are now served in more than two hundred Michelin-starred restaurants worldwide.

Terroirs and Vines of Château de Fosse-Sèche

The vineyard occupies the edge of the Brossay plateau, where a geological fault has exposed a small shelf of Jurassic limestone, far older than the Cretaceous tuffeau underlying the rest of the Saumur area. Above it lie soils of fractured flint and iron oxides, known locally as éolithe, a name the estate gave 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 store the day’s heat and release it at night, while winds across the plateau help keep the grapes fresh and healthy.

The red wines combine Cabernet Franc and Cabernet Sauvignon, while the whites are made from Chenin with a touch of Chardonnay. But what truly sets the estate apart is its environment: vines occupy only a third of the property. They are surrounded by a lush natural enclosure, two large forests, replanted hedges, trees, and flowers, ponds created for amphibians, bat boxes, beehives, and even a flock of goats and sheep. This restored ecosystem naturally helps keep the vineyard in 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 native yeasts and sometimes lasts several months at low temperatures to preserve the fruit and aromatic finesse. Guillaume Pire seeks taut, mineral wines with gentle extraction and remarkable length, rather than powerful, showy reds.

The cellar features an impressive row of egg-shaped tanks inspired by ancient amphorae and made from clay, hydraulic lime, and clayey sand. This porous natural concrete allows slow micro-oxygenation and excellent temperature stability. Above all, it leaves no oak imprint, letting the fruit and terroir speak for themselves. Aging in these tanks can last up to thirty months for wines intended for cellaring, with some barrel aging added depending on the vintage. The wines are bottled with minimal added sulfites and often need decanting to reveal themselves fully, so firmly are they 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 gentle extraction, then aged partly in barrels and partly in egg-shaped clay-concrete tanks. The nose opens with floral notes, fresh red fruit, woodland undergrowth, and a touch of graphite typical of flint. The palate surprises with its precision, soft texture, fine tannins, and remarkable drinkability, followed by a long mineral, 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 house’s flagship white, a characterful Chenin that ranks among the appellation’s benchmarks. Harvested at full ripeness and aged for an extended period, it combines power and elegance with remarkable ease. The nose offers aromas of white flowers, honey, pear, quince, and ripe yellow fruit. The palate is rich and full-bodied yet beautifully balanced, with a pleasant 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 age-worthy red fine wine. It comes exclusively from rows of the oldest vines, with an exceptionally low yield of around 12 hectoliters per hectare, an extended 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. Compared with Éolithe, the palate has greater depth and body, with intense mineral expression and the ability to age for decades. An exceptional wine: be sure to decant it and serve it cool, then let it warm gradually in the glass.

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

Clé de Voûte is part of the estate’s historic legacy: a specially 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 tightly woven structure, deep dark fruit, and graphite-like minerality. Its youthful austerity, characteristic of Fosse-Sèche wines, calls for patience before it opens onto a complex array of spice notes.

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