Aurélien Revillot, 2020 Bourgueil ‘Les Aubuis’
Cab Franc du Jour #133
Domaine Aurélien Revillot is a relatively young domaine in Bourgueil, with a first vintage in 2012. Aurélien is originally from Burgundy, and following his viticulture and enology studies in Dijon, he worked in Burgundy, South Africa, and the Languedoc before eventually landing with the Caslot family at Domaine de la Chevalerie in 2010. It was there that his love and passion for Cabernet Franc began to take root, and that experience ultimately inspired him to establish his own domaine in Bourgueil.
Based in Restigné, Aurélien organically farms 3.5ha of Cabernet Franc across the communes of Benais, Restigné, Ingrandes-de-Touraine, and Bourgueil. From those 3.5 hectares he produces five Cabernet Francs, which is impressive by any measure. His Sur-Les-Hauts is a blend drawn from multiple parcels on the côte, while the remaining four are cuvées parcellaires: Grand Mont in Benais, La Bretêche in Restigné, Les Brunetières in Ingrandes-de-Touraine, and Les Aubuis from parcels in the Bourgueil commune, which is the wine we are looking at today.
The Bourgueil Commune
While the majority of communes in the Bourgueil appellation sit on the east side of the Changeon River, the Bourgueil commune itself is the only one located on the west side. The Changeon flows north to south before making a sharp westward turn around the hamlet of Santenay, a course that defines the southern boundary of the viticultural area in this commune.
Two distinct terroirs define the commune. The ancient alluvial terrace begins just north of the Changeon, roughly 5km north of the Loire, and stretches about 1.5km further north, with vineyards dotted to the north and east of the village of Bourgueil. This terrace is a continuation of the same ancient alluvial formation that begins in Restigné and runs west through Bourgueil and into St-Nicolas-de-Bourgueil. It sits between 40 and 52m above sea level and is characterised by very deep sandy-gravelly soils over a bedrock of lower Turonian tuffeau.
The côte occupies the far northern end of the commune, starting about 6.5km north of the Loire. Unlike in Benais, where the côte is wide and the slopes relatively gradual, in the Bourgueil commune the côte is quite narrow, ranging from around 300 to 500m wide, and considerably more dramatic in gradient. Elevations along the côte range from around 60 to 80m above sea level.
Exposures along the côte vary depending on location. Beginning around the hamlet of Chevrette, the slopes face predominantly south for about 1.5km, then gradually curve to follow the treeline, producing southeast-facing slopes before continuing north along the Changeon River to yield a section of fully east-facing vineyards. The soils across the côte in this commune are dominated by shallower clayey topsoils over a bedrock that is mostly Middle Turonian white tuffeau, with some parcels influenced by the Upper Turonian yellow tuffeau as well.
The Vineyard
Aurélien’s parcels are in the lieu-dit Les Aubuis de Marcé, located in the eastern part of the commune on that section of the côte that faces the Changeon River, giving it a full east-facing exposure on a moderately graded slope. The lieu-dit spans about 10 hectares in total, of which Aurélien farms 0.6ha, with vines planted in 1992. The soils in his parcels are a mix of Upper Turonian yellow tuffeau and Middle Turonian white tuffeau influence, with a clayey topsoil ranging from about 60cm deep in some spots to very shallow in others depending on the specific parcel. For Aurélien, this wine is ultimately about the clay. He contrasts it with his Grand Mont, which he describes as being defined more by the tuffeau itself.
For those with a particular interest in soils, “aubuis” is a collective term for clay-limestone soils in which the clays are derived from decomposed limestone and carry some degree of limestone influence. Several subtypes exist, including aubuis légers, aubuis lourds, and aubuis blanc, among others.
In the Cellar
The fruit is hand-harvested and fully destemmed. Fermentation takes place in a combination of stainless steel and fibreglass tanks with indigenous yeast, reaching a maximum temperature of around 24 to 26C. Total skin contact is approximately five weeks, with some light pump-overs during the first week followed by maceration through infusion for the remainder of the post-fermentation period. The finished wine is a blend of free-run and press wine, aged in new and used 500L oak barrels with around 30% new oak, for a total of 6 to 18 months in barrel before spending approximately three years in bottle prior to release.
Wine Details
Producer: Aurélien Revillot
Appellation: Bourgueil
Commune: Bourgueil
Lieux-Dits: Les Aubuis de Marcé
Soils: shallow clay topsoil (yellow, white and red clays), over the Upper Turonian yellow tuffeau or Middle Turonian white tuffeau depending on the parcels
Alcohol: 13.5%