Join winemaker Brendan Stater-West as he shares his inspiring journey from falling in love with wine to becoming a head winemaker at Domaine Guiberteau in Saumur. Despite being turned down by many in 2012, Brendan’s persistence paid off when Romain Guiberteau took him under his wing. Learn about Brendan’s passion for winemaking and how his journey led him to lease a hectare of Chenin in Bizay and acquire more land in Brézé, where he created his own range of wines. Discover how wine and French culture brought Brendan to France and led him to find his true calling in the vineyards of Saumur.
Brendan Stater West’s wines are imported and distributed into Illinois by Candid Wines. To order, or inquire about availability in the state of Illinois, please visit www.candidwines.com or email us at info@candidwines.com.
Follow us on Instagram at @candid_wines
Full video text:
I moved to France in 2007, so it’s been 16 years this year already that I’ve been living here. It was for love that I came to France. During my first couple of years of living in Paris and France, I discovered wine, and I fell in love with it. I fell in love with the wine community that is like a big family here in France, and I fell in love with how wine is integrated into French culture. I really found my integration into the French culture through wine. Back in 2010, it became really apparent in my mind and my heart that I really wanted to get into the production side of things. So, I started citing the different wines I was tasting, making myself a list of the great places I was tasting and Saumur kept coming back on the top of my list and being like, “Oh, these are the wines I really am interested in. This is where I want to go to learn.” So, I said, “I’m going to call the best.” I called all the best people in 2012, but everybody was turning me down because in 2012 it was a really hard vintage, and nobody had money to hire anybody. Romain Guiberteau was the only person that said, “You’re annoying and persistent, and I like your determination, so come on, I’m going to train you, and we’ll see how things go,” and I’ve been here ever since working with him, worked my way up, and always his right arm in terms of the vineyard, being really kind of the vineyard manager and head winemaker at Domaine Guiberteau.
That’s kind of my story in terms of how I got here. Past that, in 2015, I was able to lease one hectare of Chenin in Visay called Les Chapudaises, which I started making my first wine from, and that kind of led me to another opportunity in 2018 where I was able to acquire more land in Brézé to expand my range of wines that I currently make.
source
