Bourgueil, “Vieilles Vignes”

Lamé-Delisle-Boucard’s “Vieilles Vignes” is pure Cabernet Franc exclusively from vines over 40 years of age in the commune of Ingrandes de Touraine—part from the sandy gravel terraces of the lieu-dit Louys, and part from hillside plantings in the clay-limestone of Mont Sigou. This cuvée undergoes alcoholic fermentation in tronconic oak casks with a 10-day maceration, then spends a year in large, very old 25-hectoliter foudres. Invitingly ripe on the nose and tinged with earth, it enters the mouth silkily, revealing its underlying minerality as it moves across the palate, and it closes with a gentle clench of supremely elegant tannins.