Tasting notes
A light and easy-drinking wine, ideal in any season. A great fruit aroma then red fruits such as strawberries and rasberries. Ideal with grilled meats and roast vegetables and will also accopany fish dishes.
Why we recommend this wine
Cabernet Franc is not a common grape, the middle reaches of the Loire being one of the few places specialising in producing it as a single varietal wine. When we visited the Loire a while back (see our trip notes here) we came across some excellent examples and made a note to hunt them out for you. This wine shows you what Cabernet Franc can do in its simple form.
The wine
Plots of 35-year-old vines cultivated in organic farming since 2017. They are planted on clay-limestone soil, located around the small village of Chaintres and in the towns of Dampierre sur Loire, Varrains and Chacé (south-east of Saumur). The harvest is 50% manual and 50% mechanical and is entirely sorted in the cellar. The grapes are destemmed and conveyered into stainless steel vats. The follows about ten days of maceration between 22°C and 25°C to preserve the fruit.
The wine estate
Fourth generation, formerly rosé wine makers, the Filliatreaus were instrumental in popularising red wines made from Cabernet Franc. From a start of 9 hectares they now own vineyards of more than 40 hectares which shows how successful they have been. Matthew Jukes includes them in his '100 Most Iconic Wine Estates'
filliatreau.com
Food and wine
Grilled meats, caramelised roast vegetables, hard cheeses are ideal with this robust red. Also see our guide to pairing food and wine here. Decant about an hour before drinking.
Did you know?
Cabernet Franc is one of the varietals that goes into Bordeaux blends in very much a supporting role, seldom above 10% of the blend.