Wine Advisor
Clos Rougeard, Saumur Champigny Le Bourg 2015
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Description
Tasting notes
Reviewed by: Stephan Reinhardt
The 2015 Saumur Champigny Le Bourg is coolish and fresh on the toasty nose. Generous, intense and salty on the palate, with fine tannins and lots of cherry aromas, this is a ripe, round and juicy Champigny with firm tannins that were still a bit dry when I tasted this wine (summer 2018) and needed some time to fully integrate. The wine should be on another level today.
Reviewed by: Zekun Shuai
Attractively leafy aromas with refined notes of paprika, green peppercorns, tobacco, fresh red berries, wild currants and wet earth. Fluid, juicy and even on the palate, with a fine connection between herbs and freshly picked berry fruit. Fine, soft tannins merge into the lengthy finish. Succulent, naturally rendered and pristine. A confident cabernet franc. Nothing ostentatious here. Delicious and really drinkable now, but should hold very well for the next few years.
Reviewed by: Jason Wilson
Charly Foucault’s farewell. An unbelievably complex Cabernet Franc. An incredibly beautiful nose of spice, cigar box, licorice, kirsch, fresh cherry and berry in the mouth, seamless and supple. An amazingly long finish. There’s something deep and profound here.
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.
