Think of the greatest vineyards of any given region and their respective top producers—no matter your answer, it’s almost guaranteed to share a common thread with everyone else’s: The wine is bound to be expensive. For the Loire Valley, it’s “Les Poyeux,” an elite vineyard made famous by Clos Rougeard, whose current vintage fetches well over $300. The wine is incredible, certainly, but there’s something equally as thrilling about today’s version from Le Petit Saint Vincent. They use that same legendary source, craft a flawlessly traditional wine, and deliver their soulful micro-batch for multiples less.
I really want to hammer home the usage of micro-batch here: Winemaker Dominique Joseph culls organically farmed, ancient-vine Cabernet Franc from a .85-hectare plot and ends up with just 300 or so cases per year. Only a mere fraction trickles into America. It’s such a hard bottle to come by that, up until last year, I hadn’t even tasted it! But the results, especially in today’s all-powerful 2015 vintage, are well worth the waiting game and the ensuing tussle for a piece of the pie when it finally does land. Ultimately, this endlessly layered and eminently collectible stunner deserves to be priced much, much higher. Until that happens, I’ll be bear-hugging and stashing away as many as I possibly can—I highly suggest you do the same.
From the crisp, intensely mineral Muscadets in the Pays Nantais, through the Cab Francs and Chenin Blancs of Anjou-Saumur and Touraine, to the easterly appellations crafting Sauvignon Blanc, the Loire Valley is home to incredible history (reaching back to Charlemagne), a wildly diverse collections of wines, and superb values across the board. One of the appellations of note here is Saumur-Champigny—ground zero for some of the world’s most classic expressions of Cabernet Franc. Boasting tiny, quality-conscious producers that rarely leave their native France, they deliver pure, complex, mind-blowing wines in the right hands.
A distinguishing characteristic of Saumur-Champigny—in comparison to Chinon and Bourgueil, the more famous Cabernet Franc-based appellations of the Loire—is the more dominant presence of tuffeau in the soils. While there are other factors in play, there’s wide agreement that this soft-textured, yellowish limestone lends Saumur-Champigny reds their exceptional brightness and perfumed aromatics. On the whole, these wines tend to be more delicate expressions of Cabernet Franc, with more emphasis on dark cherry fruit and violet/rose florals and less on the meatier, bell-peppery characteristics of the grape.
Fourth-generation owner and winemaker Dominique Joseph was an early convert to organic farming and has been certified for many years. Known locally as ‘Pelo,’ he has run the family operation with his personal touch since 1990 and works out of a stunning, multi-chambered cellar carved directly from the local tuffeau. This wine is sourced from a two-acre lieu-dit (named vineyard site) within the esteemed “Les Poyeux” cru. Dominique’s family has owned this golden nugget of land for several generations but only began making wine here in 2011. Grapes from these 55+-year-old vines are harvested by hand and 100% destemmed in the winery. They undergo a four-week maceration in concrete vats before being transferred into neutral, 225-liter barrels (2-4 years old) for one year. The final wine is bottled unfined with an extremely light filter.
Judging by the sales of last year’s 2014 offering, many of you will remember just how profound each sip was—but it’s simply impossible to compete with the 2015 vintage. This offers more power, intensity, and structure, all while remaining incredibly enjoyable today with a decant: I recommend no less than 60 minutes of breathing before pouring into bulbous Burgundy stems. Yes, it’s Cabernet Franc, but the constant underlying elegance here is truly one of the dazzling qualities of Saumur-Champigny and its storied “Poyeux” vineyard. The wine, per usual, is explosively aromatic, revealing vibrant bursts of fresh violet, rose petal, savory herbs, crushed stones, damp clay, smoked meat, and juicy, dark-fruited shrapnel in the form of boysenberry, black cherries, huckleberry pie, and wild plums. It is simultaneously structured and exquisitely supple with soft tannins and a cascade of refreshing acidity that create a longlasting, multi-textural finish. Again, it is already a masterpiece with a decant, but make no mistake—this is built for longevity. I believe it will march past 2025 fully energized and knock on the door of 2030 without batting an eye. For pairing, pan-sear a steak to medium-rare perfection and drizzle the attached Choron sauce on top. Cheers!
