Region: Bourgueil, Loire, France

Varietal: 100% Cabernet Franc

Tasting Notes: Deep, glass staining purple in color. Beautifully floral nose of dried cranberry and raspberry, violets, tea leaf, and fresh herbs. It opens with tart cherry and berries, followed by herbal notes of fresh Provençal herbs and tobacco leaf. Light bodied and lithe, the mouthwatering acidity draws the wine into a taut focus. The finish lingers on a subtle grip to the tannins, with notions of stony minerals. The benchmark for Cabernet Franc, this Loire icon is as versatile as any bold red in the world.

Producer: Just outside of the village of Benais, in the heart of the Touraine, sits the lovely Domaine de la Chanteleuserie. This “place where the larks sing,” as the name means, is perched on a limestone plateau in a peaceful landscape near the banks of the Loire. The Boucard family manages this domaine and produces two reds from Bourgueil, the Loire Valley appellation twenty minutes north of—and across the Loire River from—Chinon. Like Chinon, Bourgueil is home to many expressions of world-class Cabernet Franc.

Vineyard & Winemaking: In contrast to the softer, more fruit-forward Bourgueils grown near the sandy, alluvial riverbanks—the Boucards’ Alouettes bottling, for example—the Beauvais shows Cabernet Franc’s more serious, structured, and age-worthy side. This largely comes down to terroir: the Beauvais vines are planted in hillside tuffeau, a chalky, porous limestone that retains water especially well and keeps the old vines hydrated through all kinds of conditions.