Community Tasting Note

forceberry wrote:

Monday, September 11, 2023 - A blend of biodynamically farmed Cabernet Franc and Côt (aka. Malbec) from a 60-yo vineyard. Fermented spontaneously and macerated in a concrete vat. Aged in old 225-liter barriques and 400-liter demi-muids. 13,5% alcohol.

Dense, fully opaque blackish-red color with a youthful blueish hue. The nose feels youthful, dark-toned and quite complex with aromas of crunchy forest fruits, some inky tones, a little bit of candied primary fruit, light funky tones, a sweeter hint of juicy dark fruits and a faint vegetal touch of stewed herbs. The wine feels ripe and fruity but also very lively without any excessive sweetness or fat. Medium in body with intense flavors of brambly raspberries, crunchy crowberries and tart chokeberries, some inky tones, a little bit of gravelly minerality, light herbaceous notes of leafy Cab character, a hint of earth and a ferrous touch of blood. The overall feel is still surprisingly stern and tightly-knit, thanks to the high acidity and moderately grippy medium-plus tannins. The finish is long, dry and somewhat grippy with a bright, acid-driven aftertaste of brambly raspberries and tart chokeberries, some gravelly mineral tones, a little bit of something funky, light earthy notes and a leafy hint of herbaceous greenness.

A wonderfully firm, serious and pretty classically styled Touraine red that is quite immediately identifiable for a red Loire wine - although the wine is not particularly herbaceous, the Cabernet Franc portion does shine through in a quite lovely fashion. The wine is very obviously made to be a vin de garde - I was afraid the wine was soft and excessively ripe due to the quite warm 2018 vintage, but this was anything but! The wine was remarkably high in acidity for a 2018 wine and based on the still very youthful - almost primary - fruit flavors, I can see this wine benefiting greatly from another 5-10 years of additional aging. Excellent value at 21,70€.

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