2022 Isabelle Suire, Saumur Rouge Loire, France

Isabelle Suire is a 4th generation vigneronne. Her great-grandfather was a vineyard worker in the in Berrie, a village south of Saumur in the Deux Sevres region. However, the familys domaine really started when his son married Isabelles grandmother, whose family owned vineyards in Berrie as a facet of their polyculture farm. Together they cultivated the vines, bred animals, and farmed grains. As time went by, the family decided to focus solely on viticulture and sold off the other land.

Isabelle took over in 2007, and by 2021 she became the president of Saumurs white wine association, where she met Romain Guiberteau the president of the Saumur reds. Romain helped to confirm her desire to convert to organic viticulture after having already worked at two biodynamic domaines in the region (Chteau de la Tour Grise and Domaine de la Garrelire).

2023 marked the first year of transition to organics (certified expected in 2026) along with a bevy of other improvements in the vineyards: cover crops in humid vintages, increasing organic matter using local cow manure from a neighboring farm, and parcel-by-parcel canopy management improvements, including higher trellising. To further improve the health of her soils, she has hired the biodynamic guru Michel Chevr (ex-vineyard manager for Thierry Germain and vigneron at Clos de LEcotard), as a consultant.

-From the importer