Brendan Stater-West

Bizay

A fellow Pacific Northwesterner, hailing from Oregon, Brendan Stater-West made the move to France over a decade ago to teach English. While teaching, his colleague turned him on to the world of French wine, and he was hooked. He left his teaching job to pursue wine education and landed a job at a prestigious Parisian wine shop. It is here where he tasted a 2008 vintage of Domaine Guiberteau Brézé that had him packing his bags and moving to the Loire. Upon moving to Saumur, he politely pestered Romain Guiberteau into giving him a job; Romain gave in to his charming American ways and employed him. While working at Domaine Guiberteau, he pursued his enology studies, and wanting to seek out his own vines, Romain gave him some Chenin Blanc vines in Les Chapaudaises in Bizay. His first vintage in 2015 was a success and he acquired a couple more acres of old vines in Brézé and La Ripaille which has allowed him to expand. He has now acquired his own property in Chacé, a small village in Saumur-Champigny, where he is working on renovating his own tuffeau cave. 

Farming is organic, hand harvested, hand sorted, and yields are kept quite low at 35hl/ha. All wine ferments with indigenous yeasts and use of stainless tanks for fermentation, and barrels is used to age premium cuvées. The wines are not fined and receive light filtration. Sulphur is used sparingly and only when needed.