Jerome Guichard / Domaine Sauveterre

Montbellet, Macon

Formerly run by the legendary Guy Blanchard, Domaine Sauveterre is now helmed by Jerome Guichard. He farms three small parcels of chardonnay around the village of Montbellet, and one small parcel of gamay on an excellent slope further south in the village of Leynes, that is shared with Phillippe Jambon and Pierre Boyat.

Jerome was a landscape artist prior to becoming a vigneron and his love of plants is totally apparent. Yet it is his understanding of bacteria that is even more impressive. He understands yeast immensely and his current work, exploring the potential for even greater life and diversity beneath the soil, has given him a reputation as one of the leading farmers in the region.  

His winemaking is delicate. The reds are not macerated for very long. Jerome favours fruit and fleshiness over minerality through extended skin contact and the wines are deliciously pulpy as a result. For the whites, Jerome is a master at using the anti-oxidative qualities of lees contact to retain aromas and flavours of fruit. The whites are very mineral (there is a great deal of clay in these soils).

 

Information on previous wines

  • 2015 Macerated chardonnay, from a very hot and dry season that led to accelerated sugar development, reduced yeast population and very slow fermentations. Jerome’s response to the hot year was to allow the wines to develop a little thread of volatile acidity for balance and freshness.

  • 2017 From a parcel of gamay grown on pure limestone. Pure and precise, with dark fruit aromatics, fine and taut tannin structure and a core of fresh varietal acidity.