Clos Rougeard : Le Clos 2018

Tasting Notes and Serving Advice for Le Clos 2018 from Clos Rougeard

Tasting

Appearance

The wine displays a deep ruby color with garnet highlights, reflecting the vintage’s ripeness and the fruit’s intensity.

Nose

The nose reveals delicate aromas of roasted meat and almost animal notes, alongside nuances of crystalline black fruit. With aeration, scents of blackcurrant, blueberry and violet emerge, interwoven with smoky, fleshy touches.

Palate

On the palate, the wine charms with its purity and elegance. Crystalline black fruits are expressed with precision, supported by a fine minerality that carries through to the finish. The texture is fairly broad, round and smooth, without heaviness. Fine, delicate tannins bring structure and refinement, while a subtle clove note adds complexity. The palate shows lovely concentration, with a deep core of fruit and a firm finish with clearly present phenolics.

Food and Wine Pairings

This wine pairs perfectly with white meats such as roasted or braised veal, dishes featuring wild mushrooms, or aged goat cheeses. Poultry dishes in sauce or herb-grilled red meats also make excellent pairings.

Serving and Cellaring

Le Clos 2018 is best enjoyed at a temperature of 15 to 16°C. Light decanting helps open up its aromas. This wine offers excellent aging potential and will continue to evolve positively for many years.

An Exceptional Saumur-Champigny by Clos Rougeard

The Estate

Clos Rougeard is among the most emblematic estates of the Loire Valley. Established in 1664 in Chacé, within the Saumur-Champigny appellation, this historic estate was run for eight generations by the Foucault family until 2017. Brothers Charly and Nady Foucault shaped the estate’s history through their pioneering commitment to organic and biodynamic viticulture, long before these practices became widespread. Today, the estate belongs to the Bouygues brothers—also owners of Château Montrose in Saint-Estèphe—who continue the philosophy of excellence and respect for terroir initiated by the Foucaults. The vineyard spans 15 hectares and produces Cabernet Franc red wines recognized worldwide for their purity, complexity and remarkable aging potential.

The Vineyard

The Le Clos cuvée comes from a blend of 15 distinct parcels spread over around 4.5 hectares in the villages of Chacé, Varrains and Dampierre, at the heart of the Saumur-Champigny appellation. The vines, aged 30 to 90 years, are planted on varied soils of clay and limestone, with a pronounced presence of tuffeau, the region’s characteristic porous limestone. This diversity of terroirs brings complexity and depth to the wine. The vineyard is farmed according to organic and biodynamic principles, with yields intentionally limited to under 40 hectoliters per hectare. Harvesting is exclusively by hand, allowing for rigorous selection of grapes at optimal ripeness.

The Vintage

The 2018 vintage in the Loire Valley stands out for favorable weather conditions throughout the year. The growing season benefited from generous weather, enabling optimal ripening of the grapes. Sunny, relatively dry conditions promoted phenolic maturity and aromatic concentration. This generous vintage produced balanced wines, combining freshness and concentration, with a fine expression of fruit and terroir.

Winemaking and Aging

After hand harvesting and meticulous sorting, the Le Clos 2018 grapes are fully destemmed before being vinified in open concrete vats. Fermentation takes place with indigenous yeasts over four to six weeks, with daily punch-downs. Malolactic fermentation then occurs in barrels. Aging continues for 18 to 24 months in old, neutral oak barrels, thereby preserving the purity of the fruit and the expression of the terroir without marked oak influence. Press wines are excluded from the final blend. The wine is bottled without fining or filtration, then rests for a further year in the cellar before release.

Grape Variety

100% Cabernet Franc