Domaine Xavier & Agnès Amirault
2018 Saint-Nicolas-de-Bourgueil Le Vau Renou
France

“The 2018 Le Vau Renou is a floral, perfumed, and silky wine sourced from two plots: one on limestone slopes and the other on clay flint. The wine is velvety and there’s a refined quality to the tannin, like they’ve have just done a meditation, attributed to the infusion rather than extraction of tannins - hand plunging, maceration over five weeks, and partial maturation in amphora. While round from the clay soil component and the vinification, there’s a sense of lightness and finesse despite the warm season. Refined, well-handled tannins coat the palate on the finish while pure cherry skin and Earl Grey tea flavors linger long.”

"The 2018 St Nicolas de Bourgueil Le Vau Renou comes from two vineyards on the gentle slopes of St Nicolas, one on chalk, the other 100 meters away, 15 meters higher in altitude and with clay and flint soils. The wine displays a dark cherry color and opens with a deep, pure, refined and elegant bouquet of dark fruits, flint, meat and spices. Intense yet fresh and refined on the palate, this is a full-bodied, vital and finessed Cabernet Franc with remarkably fine tannins and perfectly ripe and elegant fruit. Perfectly balanced, the finish is pure yet intense and long, and the tannins structuring this potent wine should allow it to be aged for at least 15 years, even though it already tastes impressive today. Compared to the gorgeous Le Fondis, perhaps this is plummier, softer and less tensioned. Tasted in March 2021."

“This is a structured wine, still not quite mature but with immense potential. Its rich black fruits, spice, and balanced acidity are developing well, and this fine wine will be ready in 2024. Organic and biodynamic. Roger Voss”

"The 2018 Le Vau Renou is exceptional: a luscious, complex Bourgueil from two adjacent vineyards, both organic and biodynamic. It an outstanding wine: fleshy in texture (yet only 12.5%), medium rich, very long and complex on the palate (black cherry, blueberry, plum, toast, herbs, tobacco), with a very persistent finish. Still has tannin; warrants 5+ more years of aging. Remarkable quality and value. 100% Cabernet Franc. Native yeast fermented in oak barrels and vats, then aged 24+ months: 75% in oak, 25% in amphoras. 12.5% [2026-2032] Vineyard Brands, Birmingham, AL 205.980.8802 "

“The 2018 Le Vau Renou is exceptional: a luscious, complex Bourgueil from two adjacent vineyards, both organic and biodynamic. It an outstanding wine: fleshy in texture (yet only 12.5%), medium rich, very long and complex on the palate (black cherry, blueberry, plum, toast, herbs, tobacco), with a very persistent finish. Still has tannin; warrants 5+ more years of aging. Remarkable quality and value. 100% Cabernet Franc. Native yeast fermented in oak barrels and vats, then aged 24+ months: 75% in oak, 25% in amphoras. 12.5% [2026-2032] Vineyard Brands, Birmingham, AL”