Fabrice Gasnier Chinon Signature 2014

Still fresh and explosive, this Signature cuvée by Fabrice Gasnier has begun to show some wonderful evolution after 10 years in bottle. We often forget the ageing potential of Cabernet Franc, but it was certainly worth waiting a decade before cracking open this wine! Unexpected, but always a great pleasure to find a Chinon with such intensity at 10 years.

92/100 - From low-yielding, 70- to 75-year-old vines on gravelly silex soils, the 2014 Chinon Signature is an excellent Cabernet Franc from Cravant-les-Côteaux, on the right bank of the Vienne River. Macerated for 32 days and aged for 14 months in party new and one-year-old barrels, this dark ruby colored wine offers a pure, perfectly ripe and concentrated bouquet of dark fruits, flint stone, pepper and floral aromas. The palate is dense, fresh and concentrated, structured by very fine, close-meshed tannins that give a silky texture of coolish, classic Loire fruit. This is a highly elegant, fine and balanced wine with a long, juicy and tightly woven finish. It's a great wine today, and it still will be in 20 years. Just beautiful. From organic/biodynamic production. - Stephen Reinhardt, Wine Advocate