Les Quatre Piliers Touraine Première Cuvée Cabernet Franc 2022

Les Quatre Piliers Touraine Première Cuvée Cabernet Franc comes from mass-selection vines of forty-five to fifty years in the red clay and silex soils of Saint-Aignan.

Touraine covers a wide stretch of the middle Loire, and its Cabernet Franc is generally lighter and more direct than the wines of Chinon or Bourgueil downstream. Valentin Desloges brings a Burgundian training to the variety, having worked with Thierry Pillot and Rafael Coche, and it shows in the shape of his reds. He crops at half the yield permitted for the appellation. This, the larger of his two Cabernet Franc bottlings, fermented in stainless steel with 5 per cent whole bunches and no added sulphur for a fortnight, then went into used barrels from Cheval Blanc for a year of ageing. The style is lithe and pulpy, closer to the slender-tannined Saumur-Champigny of Thierry Germain than to the firmer Chinon archetype.

Drink it young over the next four or five years, with charcuterie, roast pork or grilled vegetables, lightly chilled at 14 to 16°C.

*Every effort is made to ensure the current vintage is accurate; however, variations can occur. If you are after a specific vintage, please contact us prior to ordering.