In French a facteur is a postman, and the cuvees of Le Facteur honor the mail carriers who once pedaled their bicycles village to village in the Vouvray countryside, where it was customary to offer them a glass of wine. The line is the relaxed, natural-leaning face of Mathieu Cosme's family estate.
Backstory
Mathieu Cosme is the fifth generation at the family's Domaine de Beaumont in Noizay. After studying viticulture and enology and working at the celebrated Vouvray estate Huet, he took over from his father in 2005. In 2013 he and Fabien Brutout created the Le Facteur range as a complementary, more playful set of wines, with Brutout taking primary responsibility for the vinifications.
The Region
The estate lies in Noizay, near the Chateau d'Amboise in the heart of the Loire Valley, within the Vouvray appellation. The vines are planted to Chenin Blanc, which here makes still and sparkling wines.
Vineyards and Farming
The domaine comprises around 10 to 11 hectares and has been certified organic from the 2014 vintage. Biodynamic preparations are also used. Cosme has plowed his soils by horse since 2005 to avoid compacting the land, and the harvest is done by hand.
Winemaking
Parcels are vinified separately and fermentation runs on indigenous yeasts. The Le Facteur wines lean toward a natural, low-intervention style.
The Wines
The range includes still Vouvray, a Vouvray Extra Brut and the sparkling Bulle du Facteur, all built on Chenin Blanc.
