We are making a pilgrimage to the spiritual heart of Cabernet Franc this week. Beth and I have the great fortune to be hosting a wine cruise in Bordeaux for members of our wine club in the first week of April, and have been able to add a week before in Saumur and Chinon where Cabernet Franc is THE red grape of these spectacular places.
The cobblestone streets of Saumur and the rain dripping off the carousel horses in the square; the narrow confines of the roads fronted by centuries-old houses that put a shape around the town, and the lazy Loire River making an edge waterborne speak to the profundity of the grapes here even its smallness.
No amount of reading about or tasting wines from a place in your place quite prepares you for the frisson of recognition that the wine drunk from its place offers. I have been drinking Cabernet Franc from the Loire for 20 years…this is the first time I have drunk it in the Loire, and the reality of this is life-changing.
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