The Domaine Filliatreau, a large estate of about 50 hectares located near the city of Saumur, is run by Paul and Frédrik Filliatreau, père et fils (Mrs. Filliatreau mère, who is in her mid-eighties, is an everyday presence at the winery, in charge of tastings with visitors).

The vineyard of La Grande Vignolle, in the Saumur-Champigny appellation, rests atop a tufa-stone outcrop that runs along the Loire river for a number of kilometers. During the 16th and 17th centuries, the stone, a creamy colored limestone, was quarried for building some of the great monuments and châteaux of the Loire. Cave dwellings and a few formidable houses were actually carved into the cliffs. The La Grande Vignolle label is a depiction of this site.

The soil and subsoil of the vineyard are highly calcareous. This type of soil lends the Cabernet Franc grapes juicy flavors and good acidity.

The vines are of considerable age and yields are kept low. The wine is vinified in stainless-steel and bottled unfiltered. It is rich in red fruit flavors, with a touch of tobacco and licorice in the finish and has excellent aging potential.

Two other cuvées from Domaine Filliatreau available in America are the Saumur-Champigny Vieilles Vignes and the Saumur Château Fouquet, a single-plot vineyard that is being converted to biodynamic viticulture. Paul Filliatreau, who twenty years ago did much to put the AOC Saumur-Champigny on the map of great wines, has resolved to go back to “older ways” of tending vines and found the principles of bio-dynamie well suited to this purpose.