Meet The Makers: Un Saumon dans la Loire with Marie Thibaut and Frantz Saumon

Thursday 16th April  7pm

If we had to choose one winemaking region above any other region, that region would have to be the Loire. Not just for the diversity of grapes and styles it produces, or its ability to make seriously age-worthy wines, but mostly because it has long been a leading light in the natural wine world, with each village boasting an abundance of exciting natural winemaking estates and creative winegrowers. 

In the Central Val de Loire, 2 winegrowers consistently seduce our palates with their wines – Frantz Saumon and Marie Thibaut. Both incredibly talented winemakers in their own right, together they make a formidable team. Collaborating together under the smile-inducing name ‘Un Saumon dans la Loire’, they have been creating some insanely delicious, energetic wines that beg to be imbibed with friends.  

Frantz, a former forester, arrived in the wine world by chance. Frustrated by how long it took to see results in forestry (decades or centuries), he switched to winemaking because he could harvest and enjoy the results of his labour within a year. An internship in natural wine led to his eureka moment – he fell in love with the ‘crazy vinifications’ that produced lively and energetic wines. He erected a humble 3-ha estate in Montlouis-sur-Loire which has blossomed into an ecologically adherent six ha of sincere winemaking. 

Marie Thibault always knew she wanted to be a winemaker. She started her career in winegrowing in 2002 working for Domaine François Chidaine in Montlouis-sur-Loire and from 2004, started making wine by herself. In 2010 she bought 3.5 hectares of old vines in Touraine-Azay-le-Rideau and has been making incredible wines of great freshness and purity ever since. Subsequently joining forces with Frantz Saumon (her partner in life as well as in the vineyard) thus, her beautiful winemaking journey has continued.