There’s so much to say about this wine, but there’s so little available I’m reluctant to ramble on too long. The more I talk about Clos Rougeard, the more I’m like Lucy in “Peanuts,” pulling the football away from all the Charlie Browns who don’t manage to score a bottle. So, with apologies in advance, we present one of the most buzzed-about French red wines in existence, from one of the most generous vintages of the past few decades: Clos Rougeard’s flagship Saumur-Champigny 2015.
This was the year that one of the two brothers who ran Clos Rougeard, Charly Foucault, passed away, and, 18 months later, the estate was sold to the billionaire owners of Bordeaux’s Château Montrose—which only heightened the notoriety of a property whose “cult” status was already long-established. One collector described an appointment at Clos Rougeard as “harder to get than an audience with the Pope,” and it goes without saying at this point that they are considered the greatest expressions of the Cabernet Franc grape made anywhere in the world. Finessed, perfumed, incredibly ageworthy…these wines have it all, but having said that, I have a minuscule quantity to share. Just one bottle per person until the inevitable sellout, so what else can I say: Make it count!
[NOTE: These wines are being sold on pre-arrival, and we expect them to arrive at our warehouse in 2-3 weeks, barring no further delays at port.]
The passing of Charly and the departure of his brother, Nady, after the sale marked the end of an eight-generation Foucault family run at Clos Rougeard. Their small, labyrinthine cellar in the village of Chacé, in the Saumur-Champigny AOC, was a bucket-list destination for many a wine geek: The Foucault brothers were celebrated for the “Burgundian” scale and sensibility of their operation, crafting traditional vins de garde (wines to age) from choice old-vine Cabernet Franc parcels in Chacé and a few surrounding villages. Whereas most wine experts would describe Loire Valley Cabernet Franc as a tangy, pleasant bistro wine, the Foucaults demonstrated just how profound the variety could be—in the right place, and the right hands.
The Loire’s key Cabernet Franc-driven appellations are all in proximity to one another, as France’s Anjou-Saumur province gives way to Touraine. Saumur-Champigny and Chinon are neighbors separated by this traditional provincial boundary, and the latter AOC, while much larger and more widely known, is essentially an easterly extension of the former. The Saumur-Champigny zone is characterized by its limestone-rich tuffeau mixed with clay and sand, a porous rock that allows for excellent drainage and root penetration. In a lengthy article for the online publication PUNCH, author and journalist Jon Bonné sang the praises of this area, with the following passage about Saumur and Saumur-Champigny reds having particular resonance for me:
“But now they’re increasingly seen as something more: soulfully complex and savory wines, expressive of their individual terroir in a manner reminiscent of red Burgundy…And, aside from a brief flirtation with Bordeaux-like levels of oak and extraction about a decade ago, Saumur wines have achieved their success with relative grace, avoiding the difficulties that seem to entangle nearly every promising French region as it finds fame.”
Clos Rougeard’s wines are graceful above all else, hailing from a small collection of heirloom vineyards. The bottling we’re featuring today, known as “Le Clos,” is sourced from an assortment of sites, including the two single vineyards whose names ring out like the Grand Crus of Burgundy: “Les Poyeaux,” a sandy, south-facing parcel right next to the winery, and “Le Bourg,” a more clay-rich site with vines topping 80 years of age. Both sites are, of course, showcased in vineyard-designate bottlings, but some fruit from each finds its way into Le Clos as well. The Foucaults always subjected their wines to a long (two-year) aging in used oak barrels, and the estate, now under the direction of Jacques-Antoine Toublanc, continues to do things in the vineyards and cellar exactly as the Foucaults did.
Although 2015 was a famously “ripe” vintage all over Europe, don’t expect a big, blowsy expression of Cabernet Franc from Clos Rougeard: This wine is all about high-toned perfume, tension, and focus, with many years (if not decades) of evolution still ahead of it. Here, the profundity of old vines is expressed not in weight, but dimension: The wine shines a medium ruby in the glass with magenta highlights, bursting forth with aromas of blackberry, red currant, black plum, violet, rose petal, leather, tobacco, savory herbs, black pepper, smoked meat, and damp clay. It is tense and penetrating, with a long finish, and if you simply cannot wait to check it out, decant it at least an hour before serving in large Burgundy stems at 60 degrees. Go slow, let it unfold—or better yet, “lose” it somewhere and come back to it in 10 years. That is going to be a special occasion, believe me, so prepare accordingly—this and a classic steak au poivre would be absolute magic. If you’re lucky enough to snare a bottle, be advised: You’ll never look at Cabernet Franc the same way again. Cheers!
