Wine Advisor
Clos Rougeard, Saumur Champigny Le Bourg 2005
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Description
Tasting notes
Reviewed by: David Schildknecht
From a single hectare of ancient vines, the Foucaults’ 2005 Saumur-Champigny Le Bourg – from new barriques, a dozen of those from local oak dried for six years – displays roasted meat, black truffles, toasted walnut, cassis, and salt spray in the nose. Amazingly deep, meaty, and fruited with an almost bitter blackness of fruit skin intensity, this expansive, rich, doughy-textured red resonates with gushing juiciness, marrowy meatiness, explosive sweet florality, deep, piquant nuttiness, and aromatic wood notes. Like all Foucault wines, it will go straight to bottle by gravity and I don’t think much can go wrong at this point! Importer: Louis/Dressner Selections, New York, NY; tel. (212) 334-8191
Reviewed by: Neal Martin
The 2005 Saumur-Champigny Le Bourg is very pure and comely on the nose, with breezy red cherries commingling with cranberry and subtle licorice aromas. It becomes increasingly floral with aeration. The palate is underpinned by a keen thread of acidity, although there is a patina of new oak that still needs to be assimilated. Nonetheless, I admire its vibrancy, and the 2005 should last another 10 to 20 years. Tasted at the Clos Rougeard retrospective at Noble Rot, London.
About the Producer
This humble estate located in the heart of the Saumur-Champigny appellation has garnered a cult like following for its texturally enticing, elegant, and understated Cabernet Franc and Chenin Blanc wines. The Foucault brothers, Nadi and his late brother Charlie, took over the family vineyards in 1969, and are the eighth generation in their family to run this 17th Century estate. They are considered the pioneers of organic and biodynamic viticulture in their region, producing Cabernet Francs of incredible concentration and length that are on par with many left bank Bordeaux château. Le Bourg, which is their top cuvée, is a small one hectare plot with vines almost 80 years in age, producing shockingly low yields of 15 hl/ha that lower than most of the top Burgundian producers. The equally rare Chenin Blanc named Brèze, is quite simply put, the pinnacle of Chenin in Loire coming from a tiny one hectare plot of 40-50 year old vines. These are incredibly pure, lean whites with great power and intensity, as well as excellent freshness.
