2017 Clos Rougeard Saumur-Champigny "Les Poyeux" , Loire Valley, France

ABOUT THIS WINE

Les Poyeux comes from a nearly 2-hectare plot of the same name, on a gentle slope with a clay and limestone soil mixed with windblown sands. A universally popular and feminine wine, with notes of vanilla and dry spices.

ABOUT THIS PRODUCER

Clos Rougeard is an esteemed wine estate in Saumur-Champigny near the village of Chacé in the Loire Valley. The estate was taken over by Bernard and Charly Foucault in 1969, but had been in their family since 1894. Clos Rougeard has become famous as a cult producer because of the high quality and extremely limited release of its wines – around 2500 cases annually. All of its wine is sold by allocation only, mostly to restaurants, and very little outside of France. Clos Rougeard produces only four wines: a single white wine from 100-percent Chenin Blanc called Saumur Blanc Breze, and three 100-percent Cabernet Franc reds – Saumur Champigny Le Clos, Les Poyeux, and Le Bourg. Terroir and history are especially important to Clos Rougeard.

"Due to the extreme rarity of its wines—and the fact that its pure Cabernet Francs may be the world’s greatest—Clos Rougeard has become the Loire Valley’s ultimate cult producer."