Hauts Baigneux - Les Pentes Cabernet Franc 2021

A great 'bistrot wine' - easy drinking, food friendly, and always a lot of fun - everything you could want from a Loire red at this price.

Its fresh and vibrant, yet structured and full of delicious fruit. A perfumed aroma leads into juicy berries, dark fruits, herbs, pepper, spice, earth, a moreish salty savoury-ness, and that classic Cab Frac leaf. Light bodied and balanced with fine, rustic tannins and crisp natural acidity. Wild yet charming.

Made from three classic red varieties from the Loire Valley - Cabernet Franc, Grolleau, and Gamay.

NERD NOTES

Friends Nicholas Grosbois and Philippe Mesnier bought the 12 hectare Hauts Baigneux in Touraine Azay-le-Rideau in 2012, managing the vines and making the wine themselves. They farmed the vines organically from the start, and were certified in 2014, and have since expanded the domaine to 17 hectares.

Touraine Azay-le-Rideau is a relatively unknown terroir, only a few kilometres east of the far more well known Chinon, within the Loire Valley. Nicholas, a local to the area, saw potential in the local terroir, with it's clay soils and limestone bedrock.

The Les Pentes Vineyard is a 5 hectare plot with the larger Hauts Baigneux domaine. All grapes used are grown on the estate from 40 year old vines (on average), which are managed with Guyot Poulssard pruning.

The vines are hand harvested before being fermented in concrete tanks with natural yeast. After fermentation, they are elevaged in stainless steel. The wines are unfined and filtered 'Sur terre blanche' (with diatomaceous earth) before bottling.