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2021 Bourgeuil “Cuvée Beauvais”
Domaine de la ChanteleuserieJust outside of the village of Benais, in the heart of the Touraine, sits the lovely Domaine de la Chanteleuserie. This “place where the larks sing,” as the name means, is perched on a limestone plateau in a peaceful landscape near the banks of the Loire. The Boucard family manages this domaine and produces two reds from Bourgueil, the Loire Valley appellation twenty minutes north of—and across the Loire River from—Chinon. Like Chinon, Bourgueil is home to many expressions of world-class Cabernet Franc.
In contrast to the softer, more fruit-forward Bourgueils grown near the sandy, alluvial riverbanks—the Boucards’ Alouettes bottling, for example—the Beauvais shows Cabernet Franc’s more serious, structured, and age-worthy side. This largely comes down to terroir: the Beauvais vines are planted in hillside tuffeau, a chalky, porous limestone that retains water especially well and keeps the old vines hydrated through all kinds of conditions. This bottling, reminiscent of crushed blackberries, black cherries, and graphite, is proof that this is among the top terroirs for this grape anywhere.
—Anthony Lynch
Wine Type: | red |
Vintage: | 2021 |
Bottle Size: | 750mL |
Blend: | Cabernet Franc |
Appellation: | Bourgueil |
Country: | France |
Region: | Loire |
Producer: | Domaine de la Chanteleuserie |
Vineyard: | Planted in 1971, 4 ha |
Soil: | Clay, Limestone |
Farming: | Lutte Raisonnée |
Alcohol: | 13.5% |
More from this Producer or Region
2020 Saumur-Champigny “Les Mémoires”
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2022 Sancerre
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2020 Vin de France Rouge Cabernet Franc “Huguette”
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Huguette is a silky, peppery Cabernet Franc from vines over a century in age.
2022 Bourgueil Rosé
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Pretty and elegant, with a taste of fresh peaches and nectarines, it is perfect for your summer table.
2022 Val de Loire Rouge Grolleau
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This wine in the Breton book is a pure old-vine Grolleau from soils of clay and silex.
2021 Saint Nicolas de Bourgueil “Irène”
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Cabernet Franc on sandy, gravelly soils—juicy, crunchy, and highly chillable.
2021 Bourgueil “Cuvée Alouettes”
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May Adventures ~ Vinified with a gentle, terroir-focused touch—few reds will slake your thirst with the ease and finesse of Cuvée Alouettes.
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About The Producer
Domaine de la Chanteleuserie
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.
More from Loire or France
2022 Muscadet Côtes de Grand Lieu sur lie “La Nöe”
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2020 Saumur Blanc “Clos Romans”
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2019 Bourgueil “Clos Sénéchal”
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2020 Saumur Champigny “La Marginale”
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2020 Chinon “La Croix Boissée”
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2020 Chinon “Les Varennes du Grand Clos”
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2022 Coteaux du Loir Rouge “Cuvée du Rosier”
Pascal Janvier France | Loire
2018 Saumur Blanc “L’Échelier”
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2020 Chinon “Les Petites Roches”
Charles Joguet France | Loire
2020 Chinon “Le Clos Guillot”
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2021 Bourgueil “Franc de Pied”
Catherine & Pierre Breton France | Loire
2020 Sancerre Champs d’Alligny
Daniel Chotard France | Loire
2022 Muscadet Côtes de Grand Lieu sur lie “La Nöe”
Éric Chevalier France | Loire
2020 Saumur Blanc “Clos Romans”
Thierry Germain France | Loire
2019 Bourgueil “Clos Sénéchal”
Catherine & Pierre Breton France | Loire
2020 Saumur Champigny “La Marginale”
Thierry Germain France | Loire
2020 Chinon “La Croix Boissée”
Bernard Baudry France | Loire
2020 Chinon “Les Varennes du Grand Clos”
Charles Joguet France | Loire
2022 Coteaux du Loir Rouge “Cuvée du Rosier”
Pascal Janvier France | Loire
2018 Saumur Blanc “L’Échelier”
Thierry Germain France | Loire
2020 Chinon “Les Petites Roches”
Charles Joguet France | Loire
2020 Chinon “Le Clos Guillot”
Bernard Baudry France | Loire
2021 Bourgueil “Franc de Pied”
Catherine & Pierre Breton France | Loire
2020 Sancerre Champs d’Alligny
Daniel Chotard France | Loire
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