Savennières 'Les Genêts' Damien Laureau

Despite being self-taught, the very friendly and likeable Damien Laureau is now widely acknowledged to be producing some of the appellations finest wines. Born in Versailles to a family of cereal farmers, Damien moved to Angers to 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 producing Anjou Rouge and Blanc. It was here that Damien’s interest in wine began. He believes it was fate that bought him to Anjou. In 1999, Laureau took the opportunity to rent a 5.5ha parcel in the Moulin de Beaupréau from Madame De Vaulchier, after the previous occupant went bankrupt. He increased 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. In 2007, Damien left Frémur, purchasing the cellar erected by Emile Benon in Epiré in 1994. In 2010, he also took over the vineyard of ‘Le Clos des des Petites Coulées’ from Danielle and Jean-Louis Robin.