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| "Pierre and Rodolphe Gauthier's Domaine du Bel Air is one of the quality and style giants not just in Bourgueil but in the entire Loire Valley.
The Domaine cultivates nothing but 20 hectares of Cabernet Franc (55 parcels in total, organic since 2000), which leads to five mostly spectacular cuvées, of which the incredibly deep, concentrated and age-worthy Clos Nouveau is one of my personal favorites on planet Cab Franc. Not too bad as well: the wine doesn't cost a fortune. Since Pierre opened a spectacular 1996 Les Marsaules in his cavernous treasury, I tend to say this is a producer each Cabernet lover has to check out. We had some language problems when we met, but I plan to come back with a translator one day to dig deeper into this fascinating Domaine, which is, in the most charismatic way, an icon of ancient rural wine production. If you don't fear concentration, power and structure, this might become a favorite red wine producer of yours as well."
Stephan Reinhardt, Wine Advocate
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| "Some of the best Cabernet Franc coming out of Bourgueil - and the Loire."
Rebecca Gibb MW, Vinous |
| | | "The Clos Nouveau is a historic, walled vineyard that owner Pierre Gauthier restored. When he walked to school, with his lunch in his backpack, he would pass its high walls and all the older vignerons would tell him that the best wine was made behind the wall. Long out of school, Gauthier set out to revive it, and it is paying off. The 2018 is a wine that sways its way down. There's huge density here within a light bodied frame. It's almost like a good Right Bank Bordeaux but with a greater sense of air and lightness on its feet. You can expect black cherry, olive, a little savoriness, cherry and a hint of smoke in terms of flavors, which linger on and on and on. It inevitably needs time - the tannins are abundant, offering an attractive, powdery chalk-like texture that coats the mouth. The wine spent 24 months in barrel (70% new, 30% second use)."
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Ribecca Gibb MW, Vinous
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| | | | "Years ago, while searching for a producer in the Bourgueil area of the Loire Valley’s Touraine, Didier Dagueneau was the first to recommend Pierre Gauthier to us. Upon shaking Pierre’s hand for the first time, there was no mistaking that this man is close to the earth. Since 1979, this master of Cabernet Franc has farmed 18 hectares in the village of Benais—the heart of the Bourgueil AOC. With the help of his wife, Catherine, until her untimely death in 2016, and their son, Rodolphe, who joined the domaine in 2005, Pierre does all of the vineyard work by hand and has been certified organic since 2000. They plow the soil, maintain a cover crop between vineyard rows, use bud-pruning and green harvests to limit their yields to under 40 hl/ha, and thin the canopy three weeks before harvesting. This level of attention to detail is part of the secret to their success. The Gauthiers treat the cellar with the same immaculate care. In fact, these cellars, containing mostly double barrels, are carved directly out of one of his vineyards in Benais, thus providing natural temperature control. They de-stem 100% of their grapes and employ native yeasts for long cuvaisons of up to 3 weeks. Their Bourgueil “Clos Nouveau” is a relatively recent addition to their lineup—a historic parcel of land, the oldest in Benais, that was once owned by lords of Bellay. Since 2005, they have worked tirelessly to promote the biodiversity in this silica and clay terroir. It is their pride and joy .... Historically [Clos Nouveau] was the most prized vineyard in Bourgeuil, belonging to the monks at the local abbey for centuries. Fully surrounded by a ten foot wall, this site is located just inside the current village limits of Benais where Pierre & Rodolphe Gauthier’s winery is located. When this neglected vineyard became available, Pierre jumped at the opportunity and restoring the site to its once prestigious position became a labor of love for father and son. With very similar geology to Clos Rougeard’s famed Le Bourg vineyard, thin clay topsoil covers mother bedrock of tuffeaux limestone, the Gauthiers have even replaced the stakes with traditional slate pickets. The wine shows intriguing, delicate mineral notes backed up by fairly firm, ripe tannins and classic Cabernet Franc varietal notes. Rich, but showing great finesse, the ripe fruit is seductive, but the structure wants us to age it for a few years before the true splendor of the wine is exposed."
Beaune |
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