2014 Saumur-Champigny, Domaine Langlois-Chateau, Loire, France, Saumur-Champigny

Born in 1873 in a rural family in the Saumur region, Edouard Langlois was a winemaker and a wine seller at St-Hilaire-St-Florent. He was 23 years old when he married 19-year-old Jeanne Chateau.

Langlois-Chateau specialized immediately in the production of “sparkling wines”. Business started off well, but was interrupted by World War I during which Edouard Langlois was killed on March 31, 1915. He was 42 years old and had been awarded the Croix de Guerre (Military Cross)

His young widow took over the management of the business, later aided by her son-in-law, Maurice Leroux and her son, Alexis.

In 1973, Maison Bollinger, a family enterprise at Aÿ-Champagne, recognized the quality of Langlois-Chateau wines and acquired majority ownership, thus contributing its financial resources as well as its agencies in France and abroad. The enterprise subsequently experienced rapid growth, adding to the capacity of its cellars, creating vineyards at Saumur, Saumur-Champigny, and Sancerre (currently 71 hectares), and increasing its commercial investments.

In 2007, the firm was able to significantly enlarge its historical site at St-Hilaire St-Florent on the slopes overlooking the Loire, and to centralize its entire production: presses, storage, cellars, distribution there, as well as administration and reception, all immediately adjacent to its vineyards. Alongside the production of its “fine bubble wines” under the Appellation “Crémant de Loire, ” the winery also produces “still wines” from its own vineyards.