2020 Domaine des Closiers Saumur-Champigny Rouge 'Les Coudraies'
Region: Loire Valley, France
Grape: Cabernet Franc
Culinary Suggestions: Beef Stew, Rich Pasta, BBQ Meats
Vineyard Practice: Organic
About
The word “closiers” comes from the name given to the winegrowers who worked in the vineyards and who lived in the troglodyte dwellings at the foot of the hillside.
In 2019, Anatole de la Brosse, a Champagne native and business consultant in Paris purchased this domaine from a retiring vigneron because he believed the terroirs to be great. Grapes had always previously been sold to negociants and the vigneron worked the entire 15 hectare vineyard alone without any employees.
This is a very ambitious new domaine located in Parnay, in the heart of the Saumur Champigny appellation. With Nady Foucault (former owner of renowned Clos Rougeard) as consultant, this well financed estate is definitely one to keep an eye on.
Vineyards sit on well drained clay-limestone hillsides facing the Loire and are now organic with a HEV3 (High Environmental Value) certification, earned for the estate’s recent work in biodiversity. About 95% is planted to Cabernet Franc, with a few plots of Chenin Blanc and a tiny 30 ares (3000 square metres) of Chardonnay. Harvesting is all by hand and the vines average 35 years of age. No chemicals are added during the whole winemaking process except for small quantities of sulphur dioxide.
Tasting Notes
Vinified in stainless steel tanks and then aged in barrels, the 2020 Saumur Champigny Les Coudraies comes from the low-yielding limestone slopes of Parnay that were cropped at 40 hectoliters per hectare that year. Vinified in stainless steel tanks and then aged in barrels, the Coudraies offers a deep and concentrated, spicy and fruity bouquet of dark fruits such as sour cherries and blackcurrant along with mint and dark chocolate. Full-bodied, round and intense on the palate, this is a substantial, dense and generous but structured Cabernet with very intense and juicy fruit, good mineral freshness, spicy tannins and a long and intense, very promising finish that is still a little astringent.
93 points - Stephan Reinhardt, Wine Advocate March 2022
Drink: 2025 - 2036
While light in body, the 2020 Les Coudraies is a seductive style that enters with a certain amount of juicy fat and then pow! It reveals itself fully in its salty, taut and firm with a limestone-derived freshness and chalky texture. You can expect excellent purity of fruit, transparency and a certain delicacy as it floats through the mouth which is surprising when you find out the alcohol is 14%. It’s really rather good if you like your wines precise and taut and considering it's only the second vintage from this former business consultant. It's one to watch.
92 points - Rebecca Gibb, Vinous Media June 2022
Drink: 2022 - 2035