Multiple bottles served over dinner with some variation. When it struck gold, it was the standout red of the night, exuding cherry purity, with a dollop of liqueur de cerise, and distinct spring flower notes. The Burgundian palate evinced wet stone minerality that comes only from noble wines in a texture both velvety and silky, but never glossy. Complexity-lending earthiness and floral bouquet finish evoked one word: gorgeous! No new oak for the 24 months ageing, then 4 years in bottle before release. This only loses a single point to reflect the possiblity of bottle variation.

Sweetly ripe black raspberry and elderberry are wreathed in buddleia and heliotrope florality in the nose of the 2009 Saumur-Champigny Les Poyeux – from a sandy as well as chalky site, and tasted from new and one-year barrels – and these transfer to a perfectly ripe palate that displays amazing fat and glyceral richness yet (by Foucault’s estimate, anyway) is only around 13.5% alcohol. Certainly this evinces no roughness or heat; on the contrary, the texture of this seamlessly-constructed wine is positively creamy. Peat, Latakia tobacco, iodine, crustacean shell reduction, toasted nuts, salt, and chalk are fully capable of holding their own against the waves of fruit that crest in a phenomenally long, minerally evocative finish. I would expect this to merit attention for at least 12-15 years, and it’s quite possible it will close up after bottling even though (unlike the corresponding Bourg) it is seductively textured and generous at present. It was possible for me to garner only a limited perspective on recent vintages when I visited in June at Clos Rougeard (for more about which, see my report in issue 172). The 2009s had not entirely completed malo-lactic fermentation, but Nadi Foucault – who compares them with 1990s, and 2005 with 2009 – proudly showed them off; and no wonder, as they display awesome potential and a richness unprecedented in my experience of Loire Cabernet Franc, yet without going overboard or (as it appears at this early stage, anyway) suffering any ill-effects from high alcohol. The Foucault brothers’ 2008s had barely finished their malo-lactic transformations ahead of the 2009s and were themselves not only gassy but resistant to scrutiny, while the 2007s had just recently been disturbed by assembly into tank in preparation for bottling, in which state the Foucaults were loath to show them. (Notes on the estate’s recent whites can -- in the print edition of this report – be found in my parallel report: “Anjou and Saumur: Nobly Sweet and Nobly Dry.”) Importer: Louis/Dressner Selections, New York, NY; tel. (212) 334 8191

The 2009 Saumur-Champigny Les Poyeux has a discreet, rather floral bouquet with a sweet core that exhibits subtle aromas of mocha, tobacco, black olive tapenade. Full-bodied, concentrated and firmly structured the silky textured and persistent wine has a well hidden power due to its phenomenal vitality and freshness. The tannins are ripe, fine and quite smooth but structured.

Dark ruby with garnet highlights. Flamboyantly ripe aromas of blackcurrant, blackberry, tar, menthol and licorice. Denser and yet more delicate than the basic estate Saumur-Champigny, with flavors of blueberry, violet and chalky minerals framed by juicy acidity. Here the tender tannins are better integrated because of the warmth of the vintage. This will probably outlive the 2010 because of its sheer density and balance, but is it better?