A trip to the Loire Valley isn’t complete without a visit with Benoît Amirault of Domaine Yannick Amirault. I have long been a lover and admirer of the wines from this domaine. Their Côte 50 from Bourgueil has had regular stints as my “house wine” and their Les Malgagnes from St-Nicolas-de-Bourgueil remains one of my all-time favourite age-worthy examples from the appellation.
For more than 20 vintages, Benoît Amirault has been shaping the domaine's direction building on the important groundwork laid by his father, Yannick, in the 1980s and 90s. Founded in Saint-Nicolas-de-Bourgueil, the estate now spans 20 hectares across the two appellations, and Benoît brings precision and thoughtfulness to his work, and a near-obsessive focus on highlighting the fruit character in Cabernet Franc - a common thread that weaves its way through their entire range of wines.
We had some extra time to catch up on my last visit to the domaine, and what follows is a short, candid conversation about terroir,…