2001 Tour Grise Saumur Puy Notre Dame - Les Vigneux

Philippe and Françoise Gourdon created Château Tour Grise in 1990 from the half of their established family estate that they inherited. They converted to organic and biodynamic farming and continued producing wine commercially until 2015, after which they retired. Fortunately, they held back a lot of older bottles, which allows us to drink some wondrous, old Loire wines at equally wondrous prices. Les Vigneux was fermented in concrete oval tanks, aged in neutral barrels, and bottled unfined and unfiltered.

It has clear cabernet franc markers of distinct herbaceousness and dusty red fruits, with extra earthy depth from two decades of bottle age. But it’s clean earthiness, with a Loire lift. Decanting to avoid sediment is a good idea. A Burgundy stem is perfect, but any larger wineglass will do. It will pair nicely with flank steak with chimichurri sauce or an herby risotto.