Domaine Frédéric Mabileau, 2020 St-Nicolas-de-Bourgueil 'Les Coutures,'
The Mabileau family name is deeply connect to the village of St-Nicolas-de-Bourgueil and viticulture, with records of Mabileau's owning vineyards here as far back as 1640. The history of Domaine Frédéric Mabileau can be traced back four generations, with some of the oldest parcels being planted by Frédéric's grandfather back in 1947, but the modern story of the estate really begins in 1991 when Frédréric and his wife Nathalie began tending to 3 hectares of vines in the lieu-dit of Les Rouillères. Following the tragic passing of Frédéric in 2020, Nathalie, along side their two sons Rémy and Charly, continue the domaine today honouring Frédéric's passion and legacy. Today, the domaine working with 35 hectares of vines, across the appellations of St-Nicolas-de-Bourgueil, Bourgueil, Anjou and Saumur to make their exciting range of wines, including 5 Cabernet Francs. Their vines have been farmed certified organic since 2007, and certified biodynamic since 2018.
The appellation of St-Nicolas-de-Bourgueil is comprised of one commune - St-Nicolas-de-Bourgueil - which begins at the western border of the Bourgueil commune and stretches west about 6km with approximately 1100 hectares under vine. Most texts will lump the Bourgueil and Saint-Nicolas-de-Bourgueil AOPs together has having the same terroir for simplicities sake. But the more I visit the Loire Valley and these two appellations, the more their differences become apparent. If you drive west along the D35 from Restigné, through Bourgueil, and all the way through to the western border of St-Nicolas-de-Bourgueil - only about a 10 min drive, I might add - you see very easily how different the viticultural landscape is across these two appellations.
The nature of where Saint-Nicolas-de-Bourgueil is positioned along the Loire as it starts to dogleg toward Saumur means the appellation almost has a slightly south-southwest west exposure, as well as it's proximity to the beginning of the Vienne tributary means that Saint-Nicolas-de-Bourgueil is a little bit warmer than the Bourgueil AOP - in fact harvest here will start sometimes up to 10 days ahead of Bourgueil.
Also, because of how the Loire changes course ever so slightly, and the ancient alluvial terrace that begins in the commune of Restigné and continues west across the Bourgueil AOP actually gets a bit wider in St-Nicolas-de-Bourgueil. So this area of ancient alluvium actually accounts for 65% of the vineyard area in the appellation. And as this terrace widens, the area of vineyards that are on the recent alluvium as well as the côte, where we find the tuffeau-chalk dominated soils, these two areas narrow quite a bit.
Today's wine is from a parcel on the slopes, and the area of the côte stretches the entire width of the appellation, but it does narrow quite a bit as we move east to west, from about 600m wide just west the boundary of the Bourgueil AOP, to only about 300m wide just past the hamlet of La Gardière. This area ranges in elevation from around 60 to upwards to about 88m above sea level, and the majority of the vineyards on the côte have a south-facing exposure. And this forested area to the north is important as it provides protection from the cold winds that come in from the north.
In terms of soils, the area of the côte in St-Nicolas-de-Bourgueil is dominated by sandy and silty-sand topsoils that are of colluvial origin. These topsoils can vary in depth depending on where you are, and then they are followed by the exclusively Middle Turonian tuffeau chalk, which is the glauconitic-micaceous chalk, so there is virtually no presence of the Upper Turonian yellow tuffeau chalk by the time the slope reaches St-Nicolas-de-Bourgueil. In addition to this, we do find the odd pocket of deeper sandy-clays that are mixed with flint and/or sandstone, as well as some deeper aeolian sands.
Now in terms of the parcel for this wine, when Frédéric first made this cuvée in 1996, the cuvée was named after the lieu-dit, Les Coutures, which is located on the ancient alluvial terrace, and this was the parcel that was used consistently over the years. In 2020, Rémy's first vintage following his father's passing, Rémy wanted to elevate this cuvée by choosing a parcel on the slopes to give it a bit more precision and refinement, so he chose the historic parcel of old vines in the lieu-dit Clos Lorioux that his grandfather worked, and he has continued to use this parcel for this cuvée in subsequent vintages.
So this is from 0.5 hectares of vines, and the lieu-dit is located in the central part of the côte, just west of the hamlet of La Gardière. The Mabileau parcels are in a prime spot in this lieu-dit, at the very top of the slope, just before the forest. We're at an elevation of around 70m above sea level, on a full, gentle south-facing exposure. In terms of soil, we have a silty-sand topsoil, followed by a subsoil of chalky-clay, which is good for moisture retention, so there is just a little over a meter of topsoil, followed the Middle Turonian tuffeau chalk.
In terms of the winemaking for this wine, the fruit is all hand-harvested and destemmed. The fermentation is in stainless steel with indigenous yeast, with about 25 days on skins with some light pumping over to homogenize the must. The cuvée is predominantly free run with with a bit of press wine. And in terms of the aging, Rémy did note to me that he has shortened the élevage for this cuvée, from 24 months to 12 months in a combination of 12hl oak foudres and 500L older, neutral barrels, in order to preserve the fruit character. The wine is bottled unfined, unfiltered with minimal addition of SO2, and then aged in bottle for about one year prior to release.
Key wine facts below:
Producer: Domaine Frédéric Mabileau
Appellation: St-Nicolas-de-Bourgueil
Commune: St-Nicolas-de-Bourgueil
Lieu-Dit: Clos Lorioux
Soil: Silty-sand topsoil, chalky-clay subsoil, over the Middle Turonian tuffeau chalk
Alcohol: 13.0%
