Domaine de la Butte (Jacky Blot), Cabernet Franc, Le Haut de la Butte, Bourgueil, Loire Valley, France 2020

Coming from the “top of the mound,” this Cabernet Franc hails from Jacky Blot’s Domaine de La Butte winery in the Bourgueil appellation. The vines are roughly 35 years planted to clay and silex soil over limestone. Fermented with indigenous yeasts, and unfined and unfiltered. The wine spends time in a mix of cement and older barrels.

This particular deep-crimson gem is clearly made from fully ripe grapes and the wine benefits from tannins so well managed that the texture is already silky. As well as the trademark pencil-shavings aroma of a fine Loire Cabernet Franc, there are intriguing layers of nuance, and just the right amount of refreshing acidity.