2017 Clos Rougeard Foucault Saumur Breze
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Tasting notes
Smoke, spices, ripe orchard fruits and herbs preface the 2017 Saumur Blanc Brézé, a medium to full-bodied, round and dense wine with bright acids and aromas of ginger and exotic fruits on the finish. This is a very classic Brézé that could age nicely over the next decade and more.
Critic scores
Jane Anson, Inside Bordeaux
Rebecca Gibb MW, Vinous
More reviews and scores
The 2017 Brézé is an athletic lane of wine, going from the start gun to the finish line in one tram line. Citrus, pineapple and a reductive note with that salty edge you expect from this vineyard. There are some exotic fruits like lime and pineapple. Long and drawn out with harmony and balance.
The phrase 'ripe yet precise' encapsulates the 2017 Brézé, Clos Rougeard's single and singular, dry white wine. It has two different fruit spectrums - there's citrus fruit from the north-facing vines and a later picked, riper, almost tropical, cooked pineapple character. Fermented in barrel, there are oak-derived vanilla flavors that join the fruit while a whiff of match stick indicates a lightly reductive character that needs air. It is round yet retains a bright, racy freshness that you often see in Brézé whites. Focused and fine, this has the substance and line to evolve gracefully.
About the producer
Clos Rougeard is one of the Loire Valley’s most famous producers. Based in Saumur-Champigny, it produces fine Cabernet Franc in tiny volumes – wines that are almost impossible to source.