Domaine Amirault, 2018 St-Nicolas-de-Bourgueil "Les Quarterons"
Cab Franc du Jour #61
The estate was established in the 1830s when Octave Amirault purchased his first parcels in St-Nicolas-de-Bourgueil. Today it is run by Xavier Amirault and his wife Agnès, who farm 34 hectares of vines primarily in St-Nicolas-de-Bourgueil, with some recently acquired parcels in Bourgueil. All of the estate’s vineyards have been certified organic since 2008 and biodynamic since 2011.
St-Nicolas-de-Bourgueil
St-Nicolas-de-Bourgueil sits right next to the commune of Bourgueil, but its wines fall under their own appellation, unique in France as a single-commune designation. The story goes that when the appellations were being drawn up in the 1930s, the mayor of St-Nicolas-de-Bourgueil was a significant vineyard holder who successfully lobbied for the commune to have its own appellation, separate from the seven communes that make up the Bourgueil AOP.
Most texts lump the two appellations together as sharing the same terroir, and from a broad perspective there are certainly similarities. But the details matter. The way St-Nicolas-de-Bourgueil is positioned along the Loire as the river begins its dogleg toward Saumur gives the appellation a slightly south-southwest overall orientation, and its proximity to the mouth of the Vienne tributary makes it a touch warmer than Bourgueil, with harvest sometimes beginning up to 10 days earlier.
The same three broad terroir types found in Bourgueil are present here: recent alluvial silty-sand, ancient alluvial sandy-gravel, and the tuffeau-clay soils of the slopes. But as the alluvial terraces widen moving westward, the ancient alluvial sandy-gravel soils become the dominant feature, accounting for around 65% of the area under vine, with less of the recent alluvial sands and less limestone than in Bourgueil. This combination of climate and soils gives the wines of St-Nicolas-de-Bourgueil a tendency toward earlier drinking and somewhat less tannic structure than their Bourgueil counterparts.
Les Quarterons & the Art of Assemblage
What is particularly noteworthy about how Domaine Amirault manages its 34 hectares is the extraordinary level of detail applied to understanding the land. The estate has been parcelled into 58 individual plots, grouped into 12 distinctive terroir units. In any given vintage, between 40 and 45 individual micro-cuvées are made from these plots, each treated on its own terms, and then through the art of assemblage these are blended into distinctive expressions of Cabernet Franc that reflect both place and vintage.
Les Quarterons is the domaine’s workhorse cuvée, designed to be a comprehensive expression of the estate as a whole. It is sourced from 13 hectares of vines ranging in age from 5 to 90 years, drawn from across all of the domaine’s terroir units, taking in the recent alluvial silt and sand, the ancient alluvial sand-gravel, and the clay-tuffeau soils of the slopes. Typically, 15 to 20 individual micro-cuvées go into the final blend.
In the Cellar
The approach is straightforward and unfussy. The fruit is hand-picked and fully destemmed before fermenting with indigenous yeast in stainless steel, with two to three weeks on skins. Aging takes place in concrete for approximately 12 months before bottling.
Wine Details
Appellation: Saint-Nicolas-de-Bourgueil
Commune: Saint-Nicolas-de-Bourgueil
Soils: sourced from various lieux-dit and soils across the appellation, incl ancient alluvial sandy-gravel, recent alluvial silty-sand, tuffeau and clay, flinty clay, etc
Alcohol: 12.5%