July & August Tasting Diaries: Part 1
No.64 | What's In My Glass
While summer doesn’t officially end in the Northern Hemisphere until September 21, it is hard not to feel a shift in energy and focus when the calendar flips to September. I was fortunate to spend the better part of my summer, 8 weeks in total, in the Loire Valley. While I certainly enjoyed a bit of downtime and vacances, I also kept myself busy attending a variety of tasting events and visiting domaines throughout the region while I was there.
For the next two newsletters, I will share a bit of a recap of the domaines that I visited and some of my insights and experiences, and then I will provide some more in-depth coverage over the coming weeks through separate articles and/or videos. So, with this newsletter, we head to Touraine: Bourgueil/St-Nicolas-de-Bourgueil and Chinon.
Bourgueil/St-Nicolas-de-Bourgueil
Established in 2014, Anne Rouxelin set out to chart a new course as a vigneronne with the creation of her estate Domaine Ansodelles. Anne organically farms 4.6 hectares of Cabernet Franc vines in the communes of Benais, Bourgueil and Restigné. A true one-woman show, Anne has approached her range of wines with care and creativity, and with a strong focus on her efforts in the vineyard first and foremost. Her range of Cabernet Francs are a reflection of her conscientious approach to viticulture, with low yields and detailed canopy management, giving wines with depth, concentration with just the right amount of polish and sophistication.
With a little over a decade at the helm of Domaine des Raguenières, Philippine Delachaux has quickly earned the respect of her vigneron and vigneronne peers in the commune of Benais and the appellation of Bourgueil as a whole. Her parents purchased the estate from a retiring vigneron in 2012, and Philippine’s first vintage was 2013. With parcels in the communes of Benais, Restigné and Ingrandes-de-Touraine, her focus is producing cuvées parcellaires from her top parcels, including Les Haies in Restigné, a very qualitative lieu-dit I see appearing more and more as a single-vineyard bottling, and La Perrinelle on the slopes in Benais. The wines are traditionally-styled with refinement and elegance in mind.
Located in the northern most part of the commune of Benais around the hamlet of Chavannes, vigneron David Ledoux spent a little over two decades working as an engineer at Peugoet before listening to his inner agriculteur and charting his path as a vigneron. Taking over the domaine of the now-retired Bruno Dufeu, David’s 12 hectares are all in the commune of Benais, including a few hectares of Chenin Blanc for his sparkling wine. David’s first vintage was 2023, and his Cabernet Francs reflect his rigorous and attentive work in the vineyard during this difficult vintage, and they offer tons of early-drinking pleasure and his top cuvée, Grand Mont, will reward those who are patient enough to tuck it away for a few years.
I first tasted the wines from Christophe Deschamps’s domaine a few years ago at one of the Loire trade salons. I was immediately smitten with the older vintages of Cabernet Franc he was presenting that day, yet little did I know that his domaine is one of only a few in the Bourgueil appellation with a remarkable library of old vintages from the domaine - in fact, their library goes all the way back to 1867! An 8th generation vigneron, Christophe and his wife Sandrine - a vignneronne in her own right with La Fontaine aux Fougères - were gracious enough to organize for me a once-in-a-lifetime tasting of 28 wines at their tuffeau cave beneath Grand Mont. We tasted principally the domaine’s Vieilles Vignes cuvée from vintages beginning with 2019 and ending with a trio of 1947s. This was an extraordinary retrospective of vintages gone by and proof of Cabernet Franc’s capacity to age gracefully and stand the test of time.
Domaine du Petit Bondieu (Thomas Pichet)
Based in Restigné, this domaine is quickly becoming one of my new favourites in Bourgueil. I was first introduced to the domaine by Benoît Amirault of Domaine Yannick Amirault when I asked him for recommendations of other domaines to visit and get to know that align with my ethos and vision for Cab Franc Chronicles coverage. Thomas’s range of Cabernet Francs are a lesson in thoughtful craftsmanship that begins in the diligent work in the vineyard coupled with techniques in the cellar that have been honed over time to produce wines that are expressive of terroir, deliciously approachable and yet built for cellaring. This is a domaine on the rise in Bourgueil.
Farming a mere 3 hectares of vines and only on the scene since his inaugural 2021 vintage, Champagne-native Simon Remy was introduced to me by Marie Belda of the Maison des Vins de Bourgueil. Coming from a family of agriculteurs, Simon was always deeply passionate about farming and nature, and after falling in love with the Bourgueil region and its terroir, he decided to choose the path of the vine and set up his domaine in the commune of Benais. With esteemed neighbours like Pierre Gauthier of Domaine du Bel Air and Aurélien Revillot taking him under their wing, Simon is learning quickly about the nuances of his parcels around Benais and is taking a meticulous and methodical approach to his range of wines. A young vigneron to watch in the world of Cabernet Franc!
Chinon
The last time I tasted at Domaine Charles Joguet was in May 2022 on my first trip to the Loire. I was long overdue for a visit, and having tasted a number of cuvées, particularly some older vintages, with friends in recent years, I was eager to go through the wines in detail with winemaker Kevin Fontaine, who celebrates his 20th vintage at the domaine with the 2025 harvest. We tasted their complete range of 2021 and 2022 Cabernet Francs - two very contrasting vintages - and the domaine continues to assert its position in the upper echelon of Cabernet Franc producers, not only in Chinon and the Loire Valley, but across the globe as well.
In the world of Loire Cabernet Franc, you can find estates that I would call “traditional” and also domaines that are more “modern,” and then you’ve got the ones that are somewhere in between. I often refer to these estates as “contemporary.” Domaine Fabrice Gasnier is one of these such estates. Today, the fourth and fifth generation, Fabrice and son Valentin Gasnier, lead the domaine, and carry on the legacy of Jacky Gasnier, while also noticing how markets and tastes continue to evolve and change. Their range of Chinons are crafted focusing on balanced ripeness, leading with freshness and juicy drinkability, while also having good capacity for aging. They also make superb traditional method sparkling Cabernet Franc rosé in a drier style than most crémants. These wines deliver nothing but pure pleasure.
I have waxed poetically about my love of the wines of Domaine Grosbois in several posts and videos, but it had also been three years since I had visited with Sylvain Grosbois at the domaine. They have since opened a lovely farm-to-table restaurant overlooking their vineyards serving pork and beef from their domaine-raised livestock and nearly all the vegetables are sourced from their own farm as well. And the domaine’s wines? These are fresh, elegant Cabernet Francs that highlight the domaine’s continued pursuit of purity, clarity and communicating a sense of place in the glass.
With nearly 45 vintages under his belt and as old school as they get, vigneron Stéphane Mureau is a wealth of knowledge (and opinions!) about the Chinon appellation and recent vintages, and the uniqueness of the terroir of the Véron Peninsula. We tasted his current range of wines and a selection of older vintages of his Diamant Préstige cuvée (2005, 1999, 1990, 1981) from the domaine’s library in his tuffeau cave in Beaumont-en-Véron. These are honest, savoury, traditionally-styled expressions of Cabernet Franc that deliver the right amount of complexity, character and approachability in every glass.
This generational family domaine is not only one of the leading producers in the Chinon appellation but also one of the most historic. The estate boasts parcels in some of the region’s most prized vineyards including Les Picasses and Les Puys, and monopole holdings of the historic parcels Clos d’Isoré and Clos de l’Hospice. Having tasted the some of the domaine’s wines a year ago at an event in Chinon, it was a pleasure to finally take the time to understand Rodolphe Raffault’s philosophy, and appreciate the nuances of his range of impressive cuvées parcellaires, all of which are beautifully crafted with a focus on finesse as opposed to power, while leaning on a slightly higher ripeness level to appeal to a wide range of palates.
As always, thank you for reading, and for your enthusiasm and continued support!
Part 2 of this feature will highlight my visits in the Anjou-Saumur region and should arrive in your inbox this weekend.
Thanks for a vicarious visit to one of my favorite regions. I'm a big fan of Domaine Fabrice Gasnier - especially La Cravantine. Cheers!