Clos Rougeard, Saumur-Champigny, 2010 SO041225 Loire Sale green pear

green pear

perfumed delicacy: lighter than Barolo

and this five-year-old from Cossart Gordon shows exactly why people fall for it

with long macerations and long rests in big old casks

Clos Rougeard, Saumur-Champigny, 2010 SO041225 Loire Sale green pearThe Foucault brothers' base Saumur Champigny is the wine that taught a generation what Cabernet Franc could be, and this 2010 is drinking beautifully. It's blended from parcels of fifty to seventy year old vines across Chace, Varrains and Dampierre, fermented with native yeast in old cement vats and aged around two years in neutral barrels. Nady and Charly Foucault liked to say the only revolution at Clos Rougeard was that they never changed anything;