2018 Saumur Champigny Marginale

The 2018 Saumur Champigny La Marginale is from a very warm and early-ripening, south-facing Cabernet Franc vineyard that yields about 35 hectoliters per hectare. The nose of the 2018 is deep, concentrated and aromatic and combines ripe black fruit aromas with spicy and toasty as well as floral tones. Aged in large oak and then 12 months in barriques, this is a juicy, intense and elegant red with remarkably fine and elegant tannins and a palatable mineral energy. This is an extraordinarily good and coolish-styled 2018 Cabernet Franc from Saumur Champigny, but the wine also seems to include the Bordelais blood and spirit of Bordeaux-native Thierry Germain. Tasted in June 2021.