Clos Rougeard... Second Generation
2005 Collier Saumur Blanc
Chiseled Chenin of Riesling-esque Purity
Special One-Time Pricing Over 40% Off!
Like father, like son?
Antoine Foucault, son of Clos Rougeard's Charly Foucault, has gone out on his own and is making wines that are so finely wrought with Rougeard-like elegance that one has to wonder if DNA profiling will someday uncover a winemaking gene.
The Foucaults are Loire royalty - their Clos Rougeard is one of the region's greatest. This is an estate that transcends (in a serious way) the quiet, rural solitude of the fertile Loire. Or, put another way: Clos Rougeard is about as blue-chip and high-profile as it gets, at least in the Loire.
But our story today revolves around the son of Clos Rougeard. Antoine Foucault has started his own estate, Domaine Collier, and is producing Chenin Blancs that are shockingly clear and cut - Riesling lovers, please continue reading!
If part of Chenin's majesty is its deep, luscious curves, the heft of the Baroque drapery that flows all around it, this can also account for some of its fatigue. Chenin Blanc can be a lotta wine.
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Foucault, however, has slimmed his Chenin down and pushed it into a realm of clarity and brilliance that, frankly, we've never encountered... except in - you guessed it - Riesling. Some of the luminous complexity that Chenin can show is lost in this exchange, but the purity and the vivid energy more than makes up for it.
This is Chenin that crackles across the palate.
The style at Domaine Collier is, as stated, shocking. Foucault has taken Chenin to the realm of Riesling, and this is a wine both Chenin fans and Riesling fans should indulge in. But today, this is only half the story.
The other half is value. Chenin Blanc is not an easy grape to cultivate, and while the Loire doesn't exactly command the price of Grand Cru Burgundy, land is not cheap. This is an expensive bottle to make, and currently the lowest price out there on this wine is $47.
Compare that to today's offering at as low as $27.55 a bottle on the three-packs.
While the estate still has a low profile at the moment, wine geeks are talking, and Antoine's father, Charly, has apparently fallen for the wine in a big way, reportedly stuffing a bunch of the 2006 Saumur Blanc into the cellars of Clos Rougeard.
If more encouragement was necessary, Jacqueline Friedrich, the First Lady of the Loire, says, "like father like son... very promising" in her The Wines of France.
The story is simple enough: In 1999, at just 23 years old, Antoine decided to make his own wines. He sought out vineyards in Breze, an area that Rougeard already made famous with its own Saumur Blanc - it seems only logical that his dad and uncle would have helped pick the sites. (Which also, likely, helps explain the quality here.)
Unlike Rougeard, however, where reds account for the majority of the wines produced, Collier is Chenin Blanc heavy. After years of receiving paltry allocations of Rougeard's great white, we're happy that the son is righting the situation. Foucault Chenin Blanc - come and get it!
As you would expect, being raised in the household of Clos Rougeard, the winemaking at Collier is traditional and rigorous. Nothing is rushed, no corners are cut. The vineyards are meticulously farmed using organic methods. Antoine prefers a long élevage; the wines spend three years in barrel and sulfites are added only at the time of bottling.
Today we can offer this bottle at a significant discount - the results of some negotiating and, frankly, the difficulty in bringing a newer project to market in tough times. The times though, will change, and the prices will go back to where they should be for the quality and rarity of the wine.
So this shouldn't come as a surprise: Today's pricing is valid only on this small parcel! Please give us your maximum order, and we'll allocate accordingly. All orders subject to confirmation.
To place your order, please email us at offers@crushwineco.com or call the store at (212) 980-9463.
Joe Salamone
Wine Buyer
Crush Wine & Spirits
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The wine leads with flowers and apple, pear and melon fruits all mixing it up with the wines great minerality. In the backdrop, a current of oceanic minerality and nuttiness lend further complexity, something that adds a bit of nuance after the bright-light-white of the acidity has faded. Really, really moving purity and length. Wowzer.
Wine arrives end of week!
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