2004 Clos Rougeard Saumur-Champigny Les Poyeux, Loire, France
(Stained label, see images)
Due to the extreme rarity of its wines—and the fact that its pure Cabernet Francs may be the world’s greatest—Clos Rougeard has become the Loire Valley’s ultimate cult producer.
Its red trophies, Poyeux and Bourg, are now among the world’s most coveted wines, while its towering white, Brézé, is nearly as ardently sought after. Not only do they come from three of the most extraordinary terroirs in France; they represent the winemaking of two brothers who are among France’s most gifted, Nady and Charly Foucault.
Les Poyeaux is half-century-old vines in a south-facing parcel of eroded sandstone over tuffeau, adjacent to the deep cellar in their home village of Chacé.
From Clive Coates' The Vine, Issue 223:
"The headquarters of the Clos Rougeard lie in the middle of the village of Chacé. A courtyard provides access to a ramshackle collection of modest and dilapidated farm houses and barns beneath which is a rabbit warren of galleries and cellars hacked out of the underlying tuffe, the limestone base rock of the Saumur-Champigny appellation... Elsewhere, on slightly better drained, more sandy surface soil is the three hectare 45 year old vineyard of Les Poyeux... The whole set up is artisanal in the extreme, old fashioned in the very best sense. The vineyards are ploughed. No herbicides or artificial fertilizers have ever been used. Yields are naturally very low. The fruit is completely de-stemmed, with a triage both before the harvest and afterwards. There is never any chaptalisation or acidification, and the wines are fermented slowly, over as long as six weeks, at temperatures which can rise to 33°C, with both pumping over and treading down, by feet, naturally, not machine... the Poyeux [is aged] in one-year oak and the generic in older wood. Bottling takes place without fining or filtration after 18 months. These are substantial wines, but without over-extraction. They are oaky, but not exaggeratedly so. They have remarkably sophisticated tannins. They have excellent gripand very fine, very concentrated fruit. They are pure, harmonious and elegant. All this adds up to a wine which would put much of Bordeaux to shame..."
(Stained label, see images)
Due to the extreme rarity of its wines—and the fact that its pure Cabernet Francs may be the world’s greatest—Clos Rougeard has become the Loire Valley’s ultimate cult producer.
Its red trophies, Poyeux and Bourg, are now among the world’s most coveted wines, while its towering white, Brézé, is nearly as ardently sought after. Not only do they come from three of the most extraordinary terroirs in France; they represent the winemaking of two brothers who are among France’s most gifted, Nady and Charly Foucault.
Les Poyeaux is half-century-old vines in a south-facing parcel of eroded sandstone over tuffeau, adjacent to the deep cellar in their home village of Chacé.
From Clive Coates' The Vine, Issue 223:
"The headquarters of the Clos Rougeard lie in the middle of the village of Chacé. A courtyard provides access to a ramshackle collection of modest and dilapidated farm houses and barns beneath which is a rabbit warren of galleries and cellars hacked out of the underlying tuffe, the limestone base rock of the Saumur-Champigny appellation... Elsewhere, on slightly better drained, more sandy surface soil is the three hectare 45 year old vineyard of Les Poyeux... The whole set up is artisanal in the extreme, old fashioned in the very best sense. The vineyards are ploughed. No herbicides or artificial fertilizers have ever been used. Yields are naturally very low. The fruit is completely de-stemmed, with a triage both before the harvest and afterwards. There is never any chaptalisation or acidification, and the wines are fermented slowly, over as long as six weeks, at temperatures which can rise to 33°C, with both pumping over and treading down, by feet, naturally, not machine... the Poyeux [is aged] in one-year oak and the generic in older wood. Bottling takes place without fining or filtration after 18 months. These are substantial wines, but without over-extraction. They are oaky, but not exaggeratedly so. They have remarkably sophisticated tannins. They have excellent gripand very fine, very concentrated fruit. They are pure, harmonious and elegant. All this adds up to a wine which would put much of Bordeaux to shame..."
(Stained label, see images)
Due to the extreme rarity of its wines—and the fact that its pure Cabernet Francs may be the world’s greatest—Clos Rougeard has become the Loire Valley’s ultimate cult producer.
Its red trophies, Poyeux and Bourg, are now among the world’s most coveted wines, while its towering white, Brézé, is nearly as ardently sought after. Not only do they come from three of the most extraordinary terroirs in France; they represent the winemaking of two brothers who are among France’s most gifted, Nady and Charly Foucault.
Les Poyeaux is half-century-old vines in a south-facing parcel of eroded sandstone over tuffeau, adjacent to the deep cellar in their home village of Chacé.
From Clive Coates' The Vine, Issue 223:
"The headquarters of the Clos Rougeard lie in the middle of the village of Chacé. A courtyard provides access to a ramshackle collection of modest and dilapidated farm houses and barns beneath which is a rabbit warren of galleries and cellars hacked out of the underlying tuffe, the limestone base rock of the Saumur-Champigny appellation... Elsewhere, on slightly better drained, more sandy surface soil is the three hectare 45 year old vineyard of Les Poyeux... The whole set up is artisanal in the extreme, old fashioned in the very best sense. The vineyards are ploughed. No herbicides or artificial fertilizers have ever been used. Yields are naturally very low. The fruit is completely de-stemmed, with a triage both before the harvest and afterwards. There is never any chaptalisation or acidification, and the wines are fermented slowly, over as long as six weeks, at temperatures which can rise to 33°C, with both pumping over and treading down, by feet, naturally, not machine... the Poyeux [is aged] in one-year oak and the generic in older wood. Bottling takes place without fining or filtration after 18 months. These are substantial wines, but without over-extraction. They are oaky, but not exaggeratedly so. They have remarkably sophisticated tannins. They have excellent gripand very fine, very concentrated fruit. They are pure, harmonious and elegant. All this adds up to a wine which would put much of Bordeaux to shame..."