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2020 Vin de France Rosé Grolleau/Cabernet Franc “Les Arceaux”
Grange Saint-SauveurGrolleau Noir and Gris are pressed directly to produce this rosé’s deep, winey salmon-orange/pink color that is a glory to behold in the glass. The complex nose is studded with cinnamon sticks, cloves, orange peel, and fresh strawberries. Intensely dry and mineral, the structured Les Arceaux is a bottle to pair with a meal rather than to drink as an apéritif. It is a shining example of our long-standing quest to convince you that rosé is another arrow in the quiver of food-pairing possibilities year-round, not just a poolside quaffer!
—Dixon Brooke
Wine Type: | Rosé |
Vintage: | 2020 |
Bottle Size: | 750mL |
Blend: | Grolleau Noir, Cabernet Franc |
Appellation: | Vin de France |
Country: | France |
Region: | Loire |
Producer: | Grange Saint-Sauveur |
Winemaker: | Alice Gitton-Pouponneau and Antoine Pouponneau |
Vineyard: | 60 years old, 6.5 ha total |
Soil: | Clay, limestone |
Aging: | Élevage for 18 months on fine lees in 228-L barrels |
Farming: | Biodynamic (practicing) |
Alcohol: | 12% |
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About The Producer
Grange Saint-Sauveur
Grange Saint-Sauveur’s wines are the first KLWM imports bearing Antoine Pouponneau’s name on their labels, but the connection with the Anjou native runs much deeper. Antoine worked as cellar manager at La Tour du Bon in Bandol from 1994 to 2006—his first job following enology studies in Dijon—then served a long tenure in Corsica as enologist at Clos Canarelli. His approach as a consultant is radically opposed to that of most enologists: a devout enthusiast of biodynamic farming and wild yeast fermentation, Antoine relies on his expertise in microbiology to create wines of character and identity via natural methods. His talents have earned him several prestigious clients over the years, as the likes of Cheval Blanc, Latour, and many others have sought his services to produce low-intervention, terroir-driven wines.
About The Region
Loire
The defining feature of the Loire Valley, not surprisingly, is the Loire River. As the longest river in France, spanning more than 600 miles, this river connects seemingly disparate wine regions. Why else would Sancerre, with its Kimmeridgian limestone terroir be connected to Muscadet, an appellation that is 250 miles away?
Secondary in relevance to the historical, climatic, environmental, and cultural importance of the river are the wines and châteaux of the Jardin de la France. The kings and nobility of France built many hundreds of châteaux in the Loire but wine preceded the arrival of the noblesse and has since out-lived them as well.
Diversity abounds in the Loire. The aforementioned Kimmderidgian limestone of Sancerre is also found in Chablis. Chinon, Bourgueil, and Saumur boast the presence of tuffeau, a type of limestone unique to the Loire that has a yellowish tinge and a chalky texture. Savennières has schist, while Muscadet has volcanic, granite, and serpentinite based soils. In addition to geologic diversity, many, grape varieties are grown there too: Cabernet Franc, Chenin Blanc, Sauvignon Blanc, and Melon de Bourgogne are most prevalent, but (to name a few) Pinot Gris, Grolleau, Pinot Noir, Pineau d’Aunis, and Folle Blanche are also planted. These myriad of viticultural influences leads to the high quality production of every type of wine: red, white, rosé, sparkling, and dessert.
Like the Rhône and Provence, some of Kermit’s first imports came from the Loire, most notably the wines of Charles Joguet and Château d’Epiré—two producers who are featured in Kermit’s book Adventures on the Wine Route and with whom we still work today.
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Where the newsletter started
Where the newsletter started
Every three or four months I would send my clients a cheaply made list of my inventory, but it began to dawn on me that business did not pick up afterwards. It occurred to me that my clientele might not know what Château Grillet is, either. One month in 1974 I had an especially esoteric collection of wines arriving, so I decided to put a short explanation about each wine into my price list, to try and let my clients know what to expect when they uncorked a bottle. The day after I mailed that brochure, people showed up at the shop, and that is how these little propaganda pieces for fine wine were born.—Kermit Lynch