Wines (12 View)

100% Cabernet Franc

Organic / Biodynamic / Natural

Beautiful Cabernet Franc from the Loire Valley.

Organic

The greater vineyard of Les Poyeux hosts a mythical terroir, home to some of the Loire’s most coveted red wines. Les Poyeux consists of 2 very distinct terroirs with unique expressions, in spite of the soil components being similar.

Les Bas Poyeux rests at the lower part of the of the Les Poyeux slope, with a complex soil which begins with 20 cm of sand above a distinctive limestone and clay subsoil. This leaves a prominent limestone imprint in the wines from this area, giving Les Bas Poyeux its "blood" side. To best elaborate the depth and complexity of this particular terroir, Duveau makes the choice to age the wine in a mix of concrete and neutral barrel.

Organic

The greater vineyard of Les Poyeux hosts a mythical terroir, home to some of the Loire’s most coveted red wines. Les Poyeux consists of 2 very distinct terroirs with unique expressions, in spite of the soil components being similar.

Les Hauts Poyeux, in addition to being the higher elevation portion of Les Poyeux, its distinctiveness lies in its depth of topsoil – 60 cm of the famous Poyeux sand before reaching the first levels of clay and limestone. In vinification, Les Hauts Poyeux sees a long maceration to elaborate the aromatics linked to this soil texture, followed by aging for 12 to 18 months in neutral barrique, to sublimate the aromatics and refine the fine tannins of the terroir.

Organic

Vinified with native yeasts in concrete tank, Duveau's entrée into the Saumur-Champigny range is a gorgeous, fresh, juicy wine that brings the drinker back, glass after glass. Grown in clay and limestone soils within the vineyard of Les Menais, located in Verrains, the wine captures the classic aromatic quality of cabernet franc and really over-delivers for the price point.

No added Sulphur

N. Kendall wines was founded in 2011 by Finger Lakes native Nathan Kendall. He is an internationally trained Winemaker who has experience in Sonoma, Willamette Valley, Waipara (NZ), Adelaide Hills (AUS), and Mosel (GER), although the plan was always to return to the shores of Seneca Lake. His passion is to create wines in an old world style using quality grapes and minimal intervention.

Having traveled throughout the world focusing on cool climate regions and varietals, the Winemaker's focus is on Riesling and Pinot noir. All lots are carefully sorted, and the pristine fruit then undergoes long spontaneous fermentations. Post fermentation, the wine ages for months on the gross lees to enhance the texture. Wines are then carefully racked, never fined, and gently filtered before bottling. The bottled wines then receive 2-3 years of bottle age to evolve and achieve the best possible expression of the Finger Lakes.

Second Place finisher in our 2022 Wine Of The Year blind taste-off!

93 points Vinous
From a limestone-based plot on the Chinon plateau, the 2016 Chinon Les Picasses features intriguing warming spices, including garam masala, as well as piquant black cherry, all followed up with mouthwatering acidity. Like their other cuvées, it's not showy and extroverted but quiet, its joy being in its tender caress on the midpalate. It has grown up in large foudres (50hl) over a year but reveals little woody influence. The finish has fine sinew and refined chalky tannins that draw the palate out on the lengthy, tea-leaf-like and spiced finish.

100% Cabernet Franc. Les Picasses is the most famous Chinon lieu-dit, close to the village of Beaumont-En-Véron on the north bank of the Vienne River. It is a slope with full southern exposure and chalky clay-limestone soils, the combination resulting in fully ripened, structured wines. Raffault's mid-slope vines are at least 50 years old and are worked organically and harvested by hand. The fruit is destemmed and the whole, uncrushed berries are fermented with indigenous yeasts in stainless steel tank; fermentation and maceration last for 25-30 days, depending on the vintage. The wine is aged for 2-3 years in oak and chestnut foudres ranging from 30-50 hectoliters; it is then further aged in tank and bottle before release about four years after the vintage. Les Picasses is the fullest-bodied, most structured and most complex of the Raffault reds. - Importer

The 2016 vintage was written up in The New York Times article:
20 Reds Under $20: Where the Values Live, for Now - The New York Times

The name of this juicy, herbal, balanced wine, C??t-Fermented, is a pun that requires maybe more explanation than it?€?s worth, but here goes. It?€?s a blended wine, 90 percent cabernet franc and 10 percent malbec. The grapes are fermented together, or co-fermented. C??t, pronounced coe, is the local Loire Valley name for Malbec, and this wine is made in a Loire style, lighter on its feet than many Bordeaux-style cab francs, not to mention North Fork renditions. C??t-fermented indeed .- The New York Times
Times

Ravines Cabernet Franc is deliciously fruit-forward and spicy with perfect balance, soft tannins and a round mouthfeel. A polished style with ripe red and black fruits, sultry spices, earthy aromas and a peppery finish. - Winery