2020 Domaine Arnaud Lambert, Saumur-Champigny Rouge “Moleton” Saint-Cyr-En-Bourg, Loire Valley, France.
Dark garnet, aromatic and richly flavored 2020 Saumur-Champigny Moleton Cabernet Franc is a powerful and beautifully structured with a classic profile that shows off blackberry, plum, currant and black cherry fruits, as well as stony chalk, bell pepper, crushed violets, earthy truffle, cedary spice, delicate leather and minty anise. This wine, made by the talented Arnaud Lambert, is full bodied, gripping and has long and elegant finish, it is absolutely outstanding and should age for decades! Lambert farms more than 40 hectares of organic vineyards in Saumur’s continental climate with unusually dry conditions due to the rain shadow effect of the Massif Armoricain. In this part of the Loire, near Anjou, the vineyards are set on Tuffeau limestone bedrock with topsoil variations of clay and sand, with that chalky influence being clearly on display in the wines. Still wines from Chenin Blanc and Cabernet Franc are vinified and aged in variations of steel, concrete, and small and large wooden vats without added sulfites until bottling. This Moleton was fully de-stemmed and macerated for 3 weeks in cement usually with winemaker Arnaud Lambert employing a unique infusion technique with the first 3-4 days of pumping overs and the remaining 16-18 days with only wet the cap maceration. The winery says the wine was then racked to barrel where it aged 24 months 20% new and 80% in one and two year old French oak 225-liter barrels. Lambert adds that was only racked once after Malo-lactic fermentation and after being in the barrel the wine saw an extra 5 to 6 months in stainless steel tank before bottling. This vintage is elevated with a more concentrated and ripe nature throughout the region and I especially find the Cabernet Francs benefiting, as this gorgeous Moleton delivers with a polished tannic backbone.
The Domaine Arnaud Lambert, based in Saint Cyr en Bourg – Brézé, is making some of the finest Chenin Blancs and Cabernet Francs in the region, as I’ve mentioned in my prior reviews, this is an exciting producer I’m always thrilled try. Arnaud Lambert, who began as part of a father and son team with his late father Yves, made a name for himself when he took over at the historic estate of the Château de Brézé, one of France’s great properties and one that the French royals, as noted by the winery, used to exchange wines of Brézé annually for Château d’Yquem Sauternes. I have had a few outstanding wines from Château de Brézé over the years, so it was exciting to see Lambert’s personal offerings and get insight to his direction as a vigneron. I understand that Lambert is pushing the appellations of Saumur and Saumur-Champigny to invest in quality and focus on individual terroirs and lieu-dit sites, as he does, like in this wine. The goal is to re-discover the regions premier vineyards and exploit its full potential through organic viticulture and less-is-more, precise winemaking, which he himself adheres to. Over the last few years, I’ve become a huge fan of Arnaud’s and this special cru Moleton is a real standout in the collection and I highly recommend it to all Cab Franc lovers and Loire enthusiasts, but don’t miss any of his offerings, many of which I’ve reviewed here at grapelive.com, with both the Franc based wines and the Chenin being equally excellent. In particular, I should say, you’ll want to look for Lambert’s Brézé Chenin, which is a sublime terroir driven wine. The Brézé cru is a unique site due to its relatively high elevation and Tuffeau, the chalky limestone, soils here that gives these wines their distinct stony, saline rich and oyster shell character. While still under the radar, Lambert’s wines are right up there with some of the legends, like Clos Rougeard, these are serious efforts that demand attention and are great with food.
($68 Est.) 95 Points, grapelive