Wine Advisor
Clos Rougeard, Saumur Champigny Les Poyeux 2003
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Description
Tasting notes
Reviewed by: David Schildknecht
With a salty, smoky, sweaty overlay to its nose of concentrated, dried black fruits, the Clos Rougeard 2003 Saumur-Champigny Les Poyeux certainly reflects its vintage. But the Foucaults suggest that holding off until the end of September to harvest – thus, “only” around two weeks earlier than normal – was critical to success, and certainly the creamy-textured, nut paste and black fruit preserve-flavored palate exhibits less abrasiveness and considerably more sheer juiciness than many an ‘03. Lovely inner-mouth florals, high-toned cherry almond, and piquant nuttiness of finish draw attention away from the tannins and inform an impressively long finish. This appears to need 5-7 years in the cellar, but I think it’s hard to predict the maturation of wines from this freakish vintage, even those from so talented a crew as this. Importer: Louis/Dressner Selections, New York, NY; tel. (212) 334-8191
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.
