The cabernet franc grape’s main claim to fame is the supporting role it plays in Bordeaux to that region’s two superstar red varietals, cabernet sauvignon and merlot.
However it also makes up about 10% of the production in the Loire Valley, and these wines are experiencing a resurgence in the U.S. market at the moment with more and more of them available on wine shop shelves. This is the result of the public’s growing preference for more fruity wines as 80–90% of the them are aged in stainless steel or neutral, old-oak barrels called foudre, with only a few special cuvées being aged in new-oak bariques.
One of these is the super Domaine de la Chevalerie, Bourgueil 1989 ($30), and no, that is not two, or even one typo – it really is a 20-year-old wine, and it really does cost just $30.
According to the estimable wine writer Hugh Johnson, in the 19th century the wines of Bourgueil were considered the equal of Margaux in Bordeaux, and in tasting this beauty one can see why.
It is packed with the sous bois flavors of wet leaves and mushrooms, yet retains a wonderfully zingy freshness for a wine so old. Time has rendered it round, soft and delectably accessible, and bought cab franc’s appealing woody rusticality to the full – there’s nothing delicate about this dirt-under-the-fingernails wine.
It is not often one encounters the opportunity to buy a 20-year-old wine at a reasonable price, especially one that’s as gloriously drinkable as this, so follow the advice of Augustus Melmotte in The Way We Live Now and “Buy! Buy! Buy!” But in this case your investment is both much safer, and much more enjoyable.
+++++++
To find this wine try www.wine-searcher.com
