Today, a select few of you are going to catch lightning in a bottle. Antoine Sanzay is a Loire Valley superstar still on the ascent, which means that, at least for a little while longer, his stunning Saumur-Champigny “Les Poyeux” can be had at a reasonable price.
I can’t imagine this will last, much as I’d like to hope, because, well, this is “Les Poyeux”—no ordinary single vineyard, but rather, as evidenced most famously by Clos Rougeard’s bottling from the site (~$300), the top red wine vineyard in the Loire Valley. It’s a
lieu-dit (named place) that would undoubtedly classify as Grand Cru if Saumur-Champigny had such rankings. Meanwhile, Sanzay, who founded his domaine in 2002, is one of the heirs apparent to the Foucault brothers, Charly and Nady, who turned their tiny Clos Rougeard into one of the world’s ultimate cult labels—one with such worldwide notoriety that it was acquired by the billionaire owners of Bordeaux’s Château Montrose in 2017. There’s no better way to describe today’s 2017 than as one of the world’s greatest under-the-radar collectibles, poised to deliver thrills for the next decade (or two). It’s the Loire red wine mountaintop, plain and simple, with aromatic dimension and mineral complexity to rival the greatest reds of Burgundy. Forget what you think you know about Cabernet Franc, because this wine, like that of Clos Rougeard, re-defines it. Six bottles per person until our tiny parcel disappears!
What savvy French wine lovers have found—especially those who could once afford Clos Rougeard but cannot anymore—is that Saumur-Champigny is home to an exceptionally talented new generation of vignerons, headlined by Sanzay, Château de Brézé, Domaine Guiberteau, and La Petit Saint-Vincent. As has become a Loire Valley signature, sustainable farming and natural winemaking are the top priorities, and Sanzay checks all the boxes on that front: his farming is Certified Organic and Biodynamic and his top priority in the cellar is minimizing “inputs” at every step in the process. In his case (and again, the Clos Rougeard comparison is apt), the result is not a rustic, bistro-style Cabernet Franc but a perfumed, refined, exceptionally pure expression. In other words: flawless.
When I first got into wine, Chinon was the first appellation that came to mind when the topic was Loire Valley Cabernet Franc. But while there’s plenty of electrifying Chinon to be had out there (Olga Raffault, anyone?), Saumur-Champigny, which neighbors Chinon, is really the appellation of the moment. The soils in the Saumur-Champigny zone are mostly the porous, yellowish limestone
tuffeau found in much of the Central Loire, but the Les Poyeux vineyard, a gentle, southwest-facing slope, has a slightly different composition—a chalky sand called
tufa. It’s confusing, I know: for the
geology buffs out there,
tufa (a sedimentary, calcareous sand) resembles, but isn’t quite the same as, the rockier
tuffeau, while both are distinct from
tuff (consolidated volcanic material). I’ve seen descriptions of Les Poyeux that describe the soil as “tuff.” It’s not. These are the kinds of things that keep me up at night!
In any case, the Les Poyeux soils are porous, allowing for excellent drainage and root penetration. Sanzay’s vines in the site, inherited from his parents, exceed 50 years of age and deliver a red that is at once exuberantly full of fruit and loaded with mineral complexity. Aged in used barrels, the wine displays a deep ruby core moving to magenta at the rim, revealing an absolute cacophony of aromas after it has had a chance to breathe some air. Decant it 30-45 minutes before serving it at 60 degrees in Burgundy stems; perfumed aromas of blackberry, pomegranate, cranberry, plum (the fruits bounce around from purple, to black, to red) and lots of violet are seamlessly intertwined with more savory notes of tobacco, mint, and black pepper. It is a medium-bodied wine, tense and lifted in the manner of a serious Côte de Nuits red Burgundy, but with a few more dark-toned bass notes to complement all that treble. It has at least 10-15 years of positive evolution ahead, and as it ages it will demonstrate as well as any wine I can think of that weight and/or tannic intensity aren’t necessary for a red wine to have longevity. Serve this complex beauty with a steak
au poivre—a bistro dish, yes, but worthy of a white tablecloth when Sanzay’s wine is on the table. Enjoy!
