France · Centre-Loire

Scev Julien Et Clement Raimbault – Domaine Du Pre Semele

Fourth-generation Sancerre estate in Maimbray, where the Raimbault brothers farm Sauvignon and Pinot Noir on clay-limestone slopes.

The producer

Domaine du Pré Semelé sits in Maimbray, in Sury-en-Vaux, five kilometres north of Sancerre. Clément Raimbault inherited the fourth-generation family estate from his father Rémy and works with his brother Julien, whose training included Vincent Pinard and Alphonse Mellot. Across 22 hectares cultivated with organic methods since 2023, Sauvignon leads the planting while Pinot Noir supplies the red and rosé side of the Sancerre range.

Clay-limestone ground, mainly Kimmeridgian marl with some Portlandian limestone, underpins wines including White Mainbré, Les Chasseignes, Le Cotelin and La Montée de Saint Romble, alongside Red Mainbré, Rosé Mainbré and Camille. Camille 2023 shows the domaine’s red-wine work: 100% Pinot Noir from five calcareous-clay plots of 50-year-old vines, hand-harvested, sorted, macerated for about three weeks and aged in barrel. The result is a dry, round red with blackcurrant, blackberry, toasted oak, silky tannin and a rich finish.

Known for

Organic Sancerre in Sauvignon Blanc and Pinot Noir, with Camille as its barrel-aged red expression.

Notable facts

The story

The name on Camille

Camille is the name the Raimbault family gave to a Pinot Noir cuvée in tribute to their great-uncle Camille. The wine comes from five calcareous-clay plots planted with vines described as 50 years old. Grapes for the cuvée are hand-harvested and sorted before roughly three weeks of maceration. For Camille 2023, the Pinot Noir then spent 10 to 12 months in barrel, with 10 to 30% new oak reported for the vintage. The family name appears on a Sancerre red described with blackcurrant, blackberry and toasted-barrel notes, a round palate and silky tannin.

From the atlas

Scev Julien Et Clement Raimbault – Domaine Du Pre Semele

At A Glance

The Producer

Domaine du Pré Semelé is a fourth-generation family estate in Maimbray, where Sancerre vineyards run across the slopes of Sury-en-Vaux. Clément Raimbault inherited the domaine from his father, Rémy, and works with his brother Julien. Their key decision is to work both Sauvignon and Pinot Noir from the same local ground: the white wines carry the estate’s larger Sauvignon planting, while Camille puts its Pinot Noir into a slower, barrel-aged red shape.

Place

Maimbray sits within Sury-en-Vaux, five kilometres north of Sancerre. The domaine’s slopes hold roughly 15 hectares of Sauvignon and four hectares of Pinot Noir, so the Sancerre name appears here in both white and red bottles rather than as a single-style calling card. Sauvignon supplies the main run of whites; Pinot Noir gives the estate Red Mainbré, Rosé Mainbré and Camille, whose darker fruit and tannin are developed through a longer red-wine cellar programme.

Soil And Site

The ground is clay-limestone, largely Kimmeridgian marl with some Portlandian limestone. Those are the physical materials under the domaine’s Sancerre vines, and they frame a range divided between Sauvignon and Pinot Noir rather than a range built around one grape alone. Camille narrows the view further: its fruit comes from five calcareous-clay plots, where the Pinot Noir vines are described as 50 years old. Older vines and five separate parcels provide the fruit for a wine matured well beyond the brief life expected of a simple rosé.

Story

The present domaine grew through a family handover. Clément took over from Rémy Raimbault, then partnered with Julien, whose work with Vincent Pinard and Alphonse Mellot came before his return to the family estate. Since 2023, the brothers have cultivated the estate’s 22 hectares with organic methods. In the rows, the ban on herbicides, pesticides and weedkillers is joined by tillage and green manure in some vineyards; in the cellar, the estate’s use of limited sulfur and longer ageing carries that fruit into bottles with more time on lees, wood or tank where the cuvée requires it.

Vineyards And Cellar

The vineyard work starts with cultivated soils rather than chemical weed control. Tillage and green manure keep the rows active, while Ecocert organic certification confirms the domaine’s organic farming. The consequence in the cellar is not a fixed recipe: the estate reports natural vinification without oenological additives, sparing sulfur use and nitrogen blanketing, then varies maturation by wine and vintage.

Camille shows how that flexibility works. Its fruit is hand-harvested and sorted, then macerated for about three weeks before ageing. The vintage-specific 2023 account gives 10–12 months in barrel, including 10–30% new oak. The estate’s current method describes a longer 18-month route: 12 months across wooden vats, concrete eggs and barrels, then six months in tank. Both accounts point to a red Sancerre built for texture, tannin and a settled finish rather than immediate lightness.

Wines

The white side of the range includes White Mainbré, Les Chasseignes, Le Cotelin and La Montée de Saint Romble; Sauvignon dominates the domaine’s planting behind those labels. Red Mainbré, Rosé Mainbré and Camille give Pinot Noir distinct roles: rosé for a lighter red-fruit expression, then red wines with more body and tannin. Camille is the most fully documented red, made entirely from Pinot Noir and raised with oak, so its blackberry fruit, toasted notes and silky tannin sit apart from the white Sancerre bottles without forcing an unsupported hierarchy on the range.

In The Glass

Camille’s aroma moves from intense red berries towards blackcurrant and blackberry, with toasted barrel notes alongside the fruit. On the palate, the 2023 is described as round, rich and velvety, a result that fits Pinot Noir given a three-week maceration and barrel ageing. Its tannins are silky rather than sharp through the middle of the mouth, while a 2022 assessment recorded a denser tannic close after that softer texture. The finish therefore carries fruit, oak and grip together: a dry red Sancerre with weight, rather than a pale, fleeting Pinot Noir.

A Bottle To Understand It

Choose Camille 2023. It is a 100% Pinot Noir Sancerre, assembled from five calcareous-clay plots of 50-year-old vines, hand-harvested, sorted and macerated for roughly three weeks. Ten to twelve months in barrel, with a reported 10–30% new oak, gives the blackcurrant and blackberry fruit a toasted edge and turns the palate round and rich. Its velvety texture and silky tannin make the bottle a direct way into the domaine’s red-wine work: Pinot Noir from Maimbray and Sury-en-Vaux, then time in the cellar to add body and a dry, structured finish.

Anecdote

Camille is the name on a Pinot Noir cuvée made by the Raimbault family in tribute to their great-uncle Camille. The wine is not a generic family label: it is drawn from five calcareous-clay plots, from vines described as 50 years old, then hand-harvested, sorted and macerated for about three weeks. For the 2023 vintage, the Pinot Noir spent 10–12 months in barrel, with 10–30% new oak reported in the vintage description. The name of the great-uncle therefore appears on a bottle carrying blackcurrant, blackberry and toasted-barrel notes, with a round palate and silky tannin.

Final Word

Pré Semelé is useful to seek out for the contrast within one Sancerre estate: Sauvignon across the white range, then Pinot Noir with real cellar time in Camille. Start with the latter when a dry red with berry fruit, oak, body and tannin is the desired shape.

Sources

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