Domaine du Collier 'La Ripaille' 2017 Saumur Rouge

Deep, intense, and fresh on the nose with chalky notes, blackcurrant, and green asparagus. Silky, fresh, and pure on the palate, with redcurrant, raspberries, cranberries, leather, cedar, mushrooms, tobacco, graphite, and cocoa. Fine, dry tannins. Velvety and textured with a long finish.

100% Cabernet Franc. La Ripaille, Brézé, Saumur Rouge. The founding parcel of the estate, less than one hectare, 50-year-old vines on clay-limestone soils over chalky tuffeau bedrock. Organically farmed, no chemical fertilizers or weed killers.

Hand-harvested with strict sorting. Wild yeast fermentation. Extended aging 24 to 36 months without racking in a cold underground troglodyte cellar. Zero sulfur additions until bottling. Bottled unfined.

The La Ripaille is the estate's only red wine from its founding parcel in Brézé, from under a hectare of Cabernet Franc planted on the same limestone-rich hillside that defines the whites. This is now entering its window with decades of development ahead. The 2017 Loire vintage produced wines of freshness and precision rather than the concentration of warmer years, which suits Collier's low-alcohol, terroir-expressive style.

Domaine du Collier was founded in 1999 by Antoine Foucault, son of the legendary Charly Foucault of Clos Rougeard, and his partner Caroline Boireau. Antoine worked four years at Clos Rougeard before purchasing his first four hectares in Brézé at age 26. The estate now covers 6.5 hectares, planted predominantly to Chenin Blanc (including parcels of 100-year-old vines) with just under a hectare of Cabernet Franc. Though Clos Rougeard's reputation was built on Cabernet Franc, Antoine found that his Brézé terroir, – stony, poor, chalk-rich tuffeau – was more naturally suited to white wine. The Chenin, as he has said, came easier to him than the Franc.

The winemaking is as hands-off as serious Saumur gets: wild yeasts, no sulfur until bottling, no racking for up to three years, aging in a cold underground cellar that maintains natural stability without intervention. The 2009 was a warm, generous vintage in the Loire, producing whites of unusual richness and ripeness without the austerity of cooler years. At 16 years of age this bottle is well into its maturity and drinking at or near its peak. It is among the five best vintages of the Saumur Blanc, one of the more significant bottles you are likely to encounter from this appellation.