Clos Rougeard Breze Chenin Blanc 2017 Magnum

Domaine Clos Rougeard
Few domains in the Loire Valley are as legendary as Clos Rougeard, run by brothers Charly and Nadi Foucault. It is the eighth generation that cultivates its vineyards in Chacé, within the Saumur-Champigny appellation. They boast of not having changed anything and that is why they are revolutionaries. The Foucaults have always remained exactly the same, treating their four magnificent wines, "Clos Rougeard", "Les Poyeux", "Le Bourg" and "Brézé" with an almost Burgundian intensity and focus as they have for generations. "Clos Rougeard" is a mixture of several emblematic terroirs. "Les Poyeux" and "Le Bourg" are two parcels, and their Saumur blanc comes from the village of Brézé. Its ten hectares are planted with Cabernet Franc and only one with Chenin Blanc. They always cultivated naturally and applying biodynamic practices. The soils are shallow and rocky with very low yields.
The red wines ferment with their native yeasts in open cement vats for four to six weeks. Malolactic fermentation occurs in barrels. The wines are aged from 18 to 24 months in oak, bottled without clarifying and without filtering, and rest for another year in the bottle before being released. The Foucaults never bottle their press wine, but instead sell it, giving these wines a Burgundian texture and aromatic profile, without any astringency that you would normally get from Loire Cabernet Franc. Although intense and unabashedly tannic in their youth, the structure of the wines at Clos Rougeard have a very long history.


Clos Rougeard Breze Chenin Blanc 2017 Magnum

Rougeard's mythical white is made from Chenin Blanc grown on Brézé, a unique hillside of sandy clay and limestone. A plot that openly competes with the great Burgundy vineyards. The style of the cuvee is determined by the vintage. 20% is aged in new barrels and the malolactic fermentation does not end. It is expressive, complex and very long-lived. One of the great wines of France