Saturday, December 21, 2019

2018 Chateau Yvonne Saumur-Champigny L’ile Quatre Sous

We are on a quest to understand how Cabernet Franc is made and have gone to one of the sources of where this grape has been grown, the Loire. I have blogged about the 2016 Melaric Clos de Messemé Saumur Puy Notre Dame crafted by the husband and wife team of Aymeric Hillaire and Melanie Hunin.
We tried this expression of 100% Cabernet Franc, the 2018 Saumur-Champigny L’ile Quatre Sous. The wine was clear and looked dark purple in the glass.
The grapes are grown and hand harvested from a one hectare plot of vines ranging from 15 to 50 years in age. Native yeast is used in the fermentation which is done in concrete vats for 3 weeks without pumpovers to limit extraction. The wine is aged for 8 months in concrete vats. Bottling is done with filtering or fining and no additions unfined and unfiltered besides minimal sulfur dioxide. 500 cases of this wine was produced.
We enjoyed this Cabernet Franc. We find it interesting to know that this is a wine that has been fermented in concrete vats as opposed to oak or stainless steel. It is eminently drinkable for it's youth. This wine can be procured for less than $30.00. We are enjoying our continuing education on how Cabernet Franc can be fermented in different ways.

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