Angélique Léon Chinon Rouge
Chinon > Touraine > Loire Valley > France
Cabernet Franc, 2020
A one woman force, Angélique Léon is an inspiration in the Cabernet Franc ancestral homeland of Chinon. While there’s no dirt in this wine, the inextricable layers of red clay, potting soil, chalk and rock salt, with underbrush featuring dry savory herbs and tomato leaves abound. With still plenty of brambling berries, black cherry, and that distinctive roasted red pepper we love in our cab francs. Grown organically, without additives, and aged in underground troglodyte caves under the vineyard, this wine is an extraordinary value not to be missed. It’s bound to be an unforgettable wine.
Chinon > Touraine > Loire Valley > France
Cabernet Franc, 2020
A one woman force, Angélique Léon is an inspiration in the Cabernet Franc ancestral homeland of Chinon. While there’s no dirt in this wine, the inextricable layers of red clay, potting soil, chalk and rock salt, with underbrush featuring dry savory herbs and tomato leaves abound. With still plenty of brambling berries, black cherry, and that distinctive roasted red pepper we love in our cab francs. Grown organically, without additives, and aged in underground troglodyte caves under the vineyard, this wine is an extraordinary value not to be missed. It’s bound to be an unforgettable wine.
Chinon > Touraine > Loire Valley > France
Cabernet Franc, 2020
A one woman force, Angélique Léon is an inspiration in the Cabernet Franc ancestral homeland of Chinon. While there’s no dirt in this wine, the inextricable layers of red clay, potting soil, chalk and rock salt, with underbrush featuring dry savory herbs and tomato leaves abound. With still plenty of brambling berries, black cherry, and that distinctive roasted red pepper we love in our cab francs. Grown organically, without additives, and aged in underground troglodyte caves under the vineyard, this wine is an extraordinary value not to be missed. It’s bound to be an unforgettable wine.
Grape: 100% Cabernet Franc
ABV: 13.5%
The Story: Born into a family of vintners, Angélique Leon assumed the reins of her parent's estate in Savigny-en-Véron, nestled in the heart of the Loire Valley, in 2002. A one-woman force, she tends the vines, harvests the grapes, and vinifies the wines. Situated at the confluence of the Loire and Vienne rivers, the 7-hectare vineyard – part of the Chinon appellation – offers a complex topography of sandy, gravel, clay, and limestone slopes. While the vineyard yields mainly red wines, a small (5%) rosé output adds a blush of diversity. The estate's average 30-40-year-old vines are exclusively Cabernet Franc. Leon's philosophy embraces the belief that great wines originate in the vineyard and are sculpted by minimal intervention. Adopting sustainable practices for soil management and disease and pest control, she transitioned to fully organic methods in 2018. Hand-harvesting ensures optimal grape selection, and the wines are vinified separately by plot, their blend defined by the style of each vintage. Her aspiration is simple: "My wines will give you the same pleasure as I get from my work."
Personality: Red clay, potting soil, chalk and rock salt, underbrush featuring dry savory herbs and tomato leaves. If you’re starting to wonder if I’m discussing wine, there’s fruit here too; black raspberry jam and juicy black cherry, together with that iconic Cab-Franc note of roasted red bell pepper, but this wine is first and foremost about the earth. The texture is driven by rough-hewn tannins and home-spun acidity framing a warm, earthy flavored and satisfying wine that offers grace notes of strawberry, cornflour, and dried oregano, but that totemic note of clay-packed earth is present from first sniff through the resonant finish.
Harmony: Cabernet Franc a gracious partner to a variety of food pairings. While red meats such as beef and lamb are traditional companions, this wine's complexity invites more adventurous pairings, such as ginger-dill salmon or even aleppo chicken.