Forteresse de Berrye, Cabernet Franc "Clos de Berrie" Saumur Rouge, Loire Valley, France 2022

This Cabernet Franc from Forteresse de Berrye is like smelling and tasting black earth, wet green forest, wet gravel, and wild berries — classic in every way.

Forteresse de Berrye’s expressive and terroir-focused wines are crafted in a simple and direct way. Its new owners, Gilles, an agronomist and agricultural engineer, and his wife, Sandra, have eliminated the use of all chemical applications in 2019 and began organic culture in 2021. For them, agroforestry is crucial for repairing the land, though luckily for them (and us), the property’s many parcels were well-tended and not destroyed by excessive use of synthetic products prior to their arrival.