Yannick Amirault, 2022 Bourgueil 'Côte 50'

No.27 | What's In My Glass

Earlier this week, I opened a bottle of 2022 Bourgueil ‘Côte 50’ from Domaine Yannick Amirault, a wine I had not revisited in probably eight or nine months or so. This wine was among my most memorable wines I enjoyed in 2023, and I was delighted by how this wine has changed since I last tasted it.

This cuvée is one of the estate’s “early-drinking” Cabernet Francs (along with ‘La Source’ from parcels in St-Nicolas-de-Bourgueil), and it’s coming from multi parcels in the Bourgueil commune that are all situated towards the upper or northerly end of the ancient alluvial terrace, essentially at the foot of the slope, at an elevation of around 50m above sea level on average (hence Côte 50!). While we are on the alluvial terrace and the parcels are dominated by sandy soils with some gravels, there are some pockets with less topsoil (2m or so), so we start to see a little influence of the tuffeau chalk. The wine is vinified very simply in large wooden fermenters, 3 weeks of maceration through …