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WINEMAKER: Anne Guégniard
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FARMING: Certified Organic (Ecocert), HVE Level 3 Sustainable
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VARIETY: 100% Cabernet Franc
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TERROIR: South-southwest facing parcels in Champ-sur-Layon. Soils are a mix of sand and clay over shale, offering both drainage and depth—classic conditions for aromatic, structured Cabernet Franc.
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VINIFICATION: One-third of the fruit undergoes a cold maceration for three days to enhance aromatic expression. Free-run and press juice are fermented separately and blended after aging. Wines are tasted and assembled just before bottling for optimal balance.
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TASTING NOTES: Bright red cherry and cranberry fruit with fresh herbs, violets, and a whisper of graphite. Medium-bodied with fine-grained tannins and vibrant acidity—silky, snappy, and food-loving.
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FOOD PAIRINGS: Roast chicken with herbs, lentils and chèvre, grilled vegetables, charcuterie, mushroom tart
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From our wine club notes:
Cabernet Franc can be a very polarizing variety, even for Sommeliers. At its best in the Loire Valley, Cabernet Franc is rich but medium-bodied, with bright acid and a complex mix of aromas ranging from roasted red peppers and lavender to cocoa-dusted dried cherries and gravel. In the New World, it can be super powerful, like dark chocolate and cranberry compote. But at its most mediocre, it can feel thin and give you nothing but tannin and bell pepper. Hence, the polarizing nature of a grape that, while the co-parent of the famous Cabernet Sauvignon, never really gets the credit it deserves on its own. Not a lot of people in the world want to spend the time to coax out the nuance of Cabernet Franc, instead, relegating it to a mere blending grape.
Thank the Goddess for Domaine de la Bergerie. Cabernet Franc does not play second fiddle here. Domaine de la Bergerie has been a family estate since 1964, first purchased by Marie-Scholastique Horeau and currently run by her grandson, Yves Guégniard, with his wife, Marie-Annick. The Domaine has always adhered to a high standard of excellence: green harvest (which means cutting off bunches of fruit early in the season so the vine gives more attention to ripening the remaining bunches), strict sorting (as the fruit comes in at harvest, the bunches are hand-inspected one by one and only the best make it to fermentation) and separate vinification of each harvested parcel.
Now, as Yves and Marie-Annick's daughter, Anne, begins to take the lead, the Domaine has converted to organic viniculture and is exhibiting exciting new energy - and fascinating wines. The Loire Valley is also a place that understands that wine is for the table.
Wine is life, wine is food. So much so that if you make your way out to the Loire, you can dine at the estate! Following stints with Alain Ducasse and Joël Robuchon, Anne's husband, David Guitton, opened a beautiful Michelin-starred restaurant “La Table de la Bergerie” on the property. His local cuisine is a lovely complement to the outstanding wines here. This estate really is a family affair. Try your hand in pairing this wine yourself- duck confit, spinach soup, morels in butter, pork belly. Even goat cheese like Humboldt Fog or Spanish Manchego!
