There are certain wines of the world that are beloved by sommeliers yet, despite the best efforts of those sommeliers, remain stubbornly in the “niche” column. Saumur-Champigny is one such wine, even after the high-profile sale of its most legendary producer, Clos Rougeard. One would think that the proven excellence of Clos Rougeard would attract hordes to the Saumur-Champigny appellation more broadly, but in our experience, that hasn’t really happened—and to be honest, it drives us all nuts.
Saumur-Champigny is a hotbed of winemaking talent and sustainable farming, the wines display exceptional pedigree at (mostly) bargain prices, and still, they don’t really fly out the door. When I worked the floor in restaurants I tried not to push my own preferences too hard on people, but I’m going to push a little bit here: This wine is both quaffable and complex, hitting all the right notes with the Cabernet Franc grape without succumbing to the pitfalls. Château de Chaintres, one of the Loire Valley’s enduring landmarks, draws on some prime old-vine material to present Cabernet Franc in all its purple-fruited, violet-scented, mineral-etched glory. I know how much our subscribers love Cru Beaujolais, and this is a natural next step—a lateral move, if you will, into new and exciting territory.
There’s a word the French use to describe a wine like this: digeste. It directly translates to “digestible,” but it connotes much more, describing wines that are in perfect balance and ready to drink. It’s a cooler way of saying “easy drinking,” and while this “Vieilles Vignes” bottling is very easy to like, there’s also plenty of complexity and soil character to hold your attention. We have come to expect this type of wine from Saumur-Champigny, which has really emerged as the top destination in the world for the best, most aromatic expressions of Cabernet Franc.
The prevailing wisdom is that these characteristics are imbued by Saumur-Champigny’s distinctive soils, which are rich in tuffeau: the soft-textured, chalky/sandy limestone that makes up the region’s best plots. It is this local limestone that makes up the building material for the estate of Château de Chaintres. It was in the 17th century that both the château and the stone wall around the vineyard site were built—by monks, of course. The 15-hectare clos slopes gently to the south and makes up the entire production of the small estate. The location was chosen due to the particularly advantageous parcel of vineyard land.
While the traditions of viticulture on the property date back almost 500 years, the estate has taken leaps and bounds towards excellence in recent years. It has been Certified Organic since 2013 and began practicing rigorous biodynamic principles starting in 2018, after the hiring of a new cellar master, Jean-Philippe Louis, whose experience in the Loire dates back many years. Louis works the soil gently to promote micro-biological growth and harvests all the grapes by hand. His approach in the cellar is one of minimal intervention. For this Vieilles Vignes cuvée, he draws on vines ranging from 50-80 years of age, their roots burrowing deep into that tuffeau and imbuing the resulting wine with real profundity.
The wine undergoes a long maceration on its skins during fermentation, then ages in a combination of stainless steel tanks and larger-scale oak vats. In the glass, it boasts a lively purple/ruby color and perfumed aromas of Mirabelle plum, blackberry, cassis, and fennel. These primary fruit components are underpinned with some of the earthier, classic elements of Saumur-based Cabernet Franc: violets, crushed gravel, sage, red pepper, and allspice. It is medium-plus in body but has a brisk freshness to it that really enlivens the palate. The tannins are extremely fine and frame the dark-fruited core. The purity and pleasure of Cabernet Franc fruit is on full display, without any discernible oak to mask the ripe fruit and riot of purple flowers and crushed rocks on the finish. I suggest serving this wine at around 60 degrees in Burgundy glasses (to point up the fruit) after a brief 15-30 minute decant, and pairing it with a gold old-fashioned steak au poivre. To do any better, you’d have to move to Paris. Enjoy!
