July & August Tasting Diaries: Part 2
No.65 | What's In My Glass
As a continuation of my July & August Tasting Diaries and my visits in Touraine, in this edition we head to the Anjou-Saumur region. Normally my visits here are exclusively at estates in Saumur-Champigny and Saumur, because I don’t often have enough time to make it “all the way out” to the heart of Anjou, and quite frankly, more often than not, Cabernet Franc plays second fiddle to Chenin Blanc in this part of the Loire. But with a bit more time in the region this trip, I was able to visit a handful of estates in Anjou with important Cab Franc stories to tell!
So, without further ado, let’s dive in!
Anjou
Situated in the commune of Blaison-Saint-Sulpice in Eastern Anjou, I had to pleasure spending a few hours with Xavier Cailleau, where we did a deep dive into their Cabernet Franc cuvées parcellaires. One of Xavier’s passions, and one of the reasons he chose the path of the vine, is geology, and their 8 hectares of Cabernet Franc vines are planted across several un…