Domaine de la Chanteleuserie, Cabernet Franc "Cuvée Beauvais" Bourgueil, Loire Valley, France 2021

The Boucard family manages the lovely Domaine de la Chanteleuserie domaine and produces two reds from Bourgueil, the Loire Valley appellation twenty minutes north o — and across the Loire River from — Chinon. Like Chinon, Bourgueil is home to many expressions of world-class Cabernet Franc.

In contrast to the softer, more fruit-forward Bourgueils grown near the sandy, alluvial riverbanks the "Cuvée Beauvais" shows Cabernet Franc’s more serious, structured, and age-worthy side. This largely comes down to terroir: the vines are planted in hillside tuffeau, a chalky, porous limestone that retains water especially well and keeps the old vines hydrated through all kinds of conditions.

This bottling, reminiscent of crushed blackberries, black cherries, and graphite, is proof that this is among the top terroirs for this grape anywhere.