Clos Rougeard Saumur Champigny Les Poyeux 2015 750ml

The estate calls the Les Poyeux slope a rare terroir within Saumur-Champigny, clay over wind-blown sand, and names finesse rather than power as this cuvée's job.

Les Poyeux is a three-hectare plot directly in front of the domaine on a gently sloping hill, and the estate describes its ground as clays combined with draining Aeolian sands, a mix it says suits Cabernet Franc particularly well. Nomura Unison, the Japanese importer, adds that the parcel sits at the top of a south-facing slope, warmer and better ventilated than the other plots, and puts the vines at 40 to 45 years with an average crop of 35 hl/ha. The UK agent Vintage and Vine lists 4.3 hectares under the name today, vines of 40 to over 70 years on the sandier soils, plus a few rows of Chenin Blanc that supply the estate's very occasional Coteaux de Saumur.

The cellar work is the middle path between Le Clos and Le Bourg. Per Nomura Unison, Poyeux ferments on its own yeasts in cement vats, then spends about two years in the one-year-old barrels that have just held Le Bourg, with no sulphur added during fermentation or ageing and no filtration at bottling. Several more years in bottle follow in tuffeau cellars seven metres down, under a philosophy the Foucault brothers summed up as leaving the wine in peace. 2015 was the year that philosophy changed hands: Charly Foucault, in and out of hospital since the harvest, died on 29 December 2015 at 66, and the Bouygues family bought the estate in 2017.

The Loire's 2015 season, as Chris Kissack recorded in Winedoctor, ran warm and very dry from May to mid-August, with Anjou receiving 18.4 mm of rain in July, before heavy rain arrived from 22 August; the harvest came much earlier than in 2012 or 2013.

In the glass

The estate's own description of Poyeux is finesse, with floral notes in some years and small red fruits in others. James Lawther MW, writing for JancisRobinson.com in April 2022 (as quoted by Berry Bros. & Rudd), found the 2015 'fine but reticent with peppery notes to the fore on both the nose and palate', 'finely structured as always', and gave 17/20. Vinous (as quoted by Sokolin) scored it 93, noting a 'meaty, bloody nose' with green herb and black pepper, plum, black cherry and liquorice on the palate and 'very fine, spicy tannins throughout'.

When to open

Lawther's window is 2022 to 2032; Berry Bros. & Rudd lists the wine as ready now, at its best to 2031. Our suggestion: decant for an hour and serve at 16 C.

At the table

Our suggestion: roast guinea fowl, grilled lamb chops with thyme, or rillettes with a Sainte-Maure de Touraine.

Quick facts

Provenance

Sourced from the Japanese importer.

Sources: Clos Rougeard; Nomura Unison (Japanese importer); label; Vintage and Vine; JancisRobinson.com (J. Lawther MW, as quoted by Berry Bros. & Rudd); Vinous (as quoted by Sokolin); Wine Spectator; Winedoctor (C. Kissack)