2019 Domaine Agnès & Xavier Amirault Vignerons, Saint Nicholas de Bourgueil, Les Clos des Quarterons, Vieilles Vignes, Loire Valley, France.
The beautifully elegant dark garnet medium bodied 100% old vine Cabernet Franc Les Clos des Quarterons by Agnes and Xavier Amirault in the Loire’s Saint Nicholas de Bourgueil region shows off lovely purity and silken tannins with classic blackberry, plum, red currant and black cherry fruits, along with hints of violets, minty herb, bell pepper, loamy earth, sweet sandalwood and a delicate chalky element. The Domaine Amirault has been in the family for six generations and is now overseen by Xavier Amirault and his wife, Agnès, who have converted the estate to 100% certified organic by Ecocert and even certified all biodynamic by Demeter. Every time I try these Amirault wines, I am more and more impressed with the quality, complexity and their rewarding nature in the glass, and this 2019 version drinking wonderfully well right now. Imported by Vineyard Brands to the States, Amirault, is not overly hard to find and I highly recommend chasing this particular bottling down, with this 2019 be ready to please, though I might grab some 2020 too, as it was a more concentrated vintage, especially if you plan to let it mature in the bottle.
Located in Saint-Nicolas-de-Bourgueil in the Loire Valley, Domaine Amirault’s Clos des Quarterons is a big 92-acre vineyard, and as mentioned, farmed biodynamically and certified globally by Demeter, in what is a unique and different terroir than Bourgueil itself. It’s noted that the soils of Saint-Nicolas-de-Bourgueil are sandier than the soils of Cabernet Franc strongholds like Chinon or Saumur-Champigny with mainly gravel and silty clay, with some limestone, so, as the winery notes, the wines from Saint-Nicolas tend to display a distinctly velvety mouth feel and a seemingly lighter frame. That said, I can see the gracefulness, but there’s a depth here that is compelling and an age worthy core structure that will make wines like this even more appealing with extended cellaring. The grapes are carefully selected from plots at least 55 years old and 100% de-stemmed, after coming into the cellars cool they are crushed and macerated in cement vats for 3 to 5 weeks to fully extract the color and flavor. When primary fermentation is complete the wine is racked to French 500L demi-muids, with 25% new oak, where it was aged for close to 18 months, all of which makes for a refined Loire Valley Cab Franc to drink over the decade to come.
($40 Est.) 93 Points, grapelive