Arnaud Lambert Clos Tue-Loup 2023

Arnaud Lambert is one of the Loire's leading growers, farming around thirty hectares of organic vines between Saint-Cyr and Brézé, among the finest terroirs of AOC Saumur. Clos Tue-Loup is a single-variety Cabernet Franc grown on the limestone soils that define Brézé. Cabernet Franc is a cool-climate grape, and the chalky tuffeau limestone here drains well while reflecting light and warmth, helping the grape ripen evenly and giving the wines their bright acidity and chalky minerality. Organic farming keeps the vineyard alive and the fruit expressive. After a careful harvest the wine ferments and then ages twelve months in French oak, where the slow oxygen exchange settles the tannins and adds gentle spice without masking the variety's leafy, peppery signature. The result is a fresh, medium-bodied red, pale ruby in the glass. The nose leads with redcurrant and cherry, with black pepper, dried herbs, a green-olive note and a touch of woodsmoke over a chalky base. The palate is lively and savoury, with fine tannins, crisp acidity and a long mineral finish at a moderate thirteen and a half per cent. Serve at 15 to 16 degrees. It is a fine match for roast and grilled meats.