Alcohol: 13%
Grape(s): 100% Cabernet Franc
Localization: Anjou, Loire Valley, France
Tasting Notes: Organic Wine, aged in barrels, rich and full, outstanding complexity and basically delicious Loire red. An initial minty nose, followed by red fruits aromas along with fresh herbs and scents of camphor. The smooth, velvety texture softens with fine tannins and the fruity complex finish is long and fresh. Loire red is delicious and sometimes overlooked, the wines can be full but are never cloying and without excessive alcohol.
Notes: L’Aiglerie is a south-facing lieu-dit of Cabernet Franc on sandstone and quartz soils. Here Thomas Carsin farms 35-year old vines from which he makes a serious and elegant version of the variety. After harvesting the grapes by hand into small crates, Thomas ferments this cuvée whole cluster by indigenous yeasts in oak vats followed by aging in vat for 12 months, then 12 more months in neutral French oak barrels.
Food pairing: Anjou Rouge LAiglerie with roast white meat and roast veg is outstanding.
The Domain: Totaling 22 hectares spread over 30 different plots, Terre de l’Elu is located in the tiny village of Saint-Aubin de Luigne. Their vineyard sites are scattered from the village of Chaume, famous for its sweet style of botrytized Chenin Blanc, to Chaudefons-sur-Layon near the confluence of the Layon and Loire. In this warmer and drier part of the Anjou red varieties are widely cultivated alongside the traditional Chenin Blanc – all planted on the black slate soils of the western portion of Anjou. Thomas and Charlotte farm Terre de l’Elu organically and biodynamically – certified by ECOCERT and DEMETER. After years of experience advising others he has put his principles to work at his own estate: native cover crops are encouraged, the soil is tilled and no synthetic products are employed. These efforts have brought new life to the soils allowing him to preserve many of the old vines on the property. New plantings have been made using selection massale to preserve the diversity of his sites. About half of his vineyards are planted with equal proportions of Chenin Blanc and Cabernet Franc – the two most common varieties grown in the Anjou with smaller plantings of Gamay, Grolleau Noir and Gris, Sauvignon Blanc, Chardonnay, and Pineau d’Aunis. Each plot and variety is harvested by hand and brought to the cellar where the whites are pressed and allowed a short period to settle. Most of the red wines are whole cluster fermentations. Only natural yeasts are employed, macerations are long and the wines age in tank, barrel or amphorae. Sulfur usage is minimal and often added just before bottling.
Buy 6 bottles of regularly priced (not on sale) wines and receive 5% off.
Buy 12 and receive 10% off.
Email sale wines do not combine nor count towards the above discount.
We would consider all wine to be "Natural". The term "Natural Wine" has the connotation of lacking a touch with nature. The winegrowers we champion are those who are farmers first. They seek to capture the uniqueness of the site (terroir) in the purest way possible. The product is as pure as possible and without wine-making flaws (brettanomyces, mercaptans, volatile acidity, etc.
Raw, in this case, we define as realistic and not manipulated. The winemakers use the least amount of intervention as possible. Wine should be made in the vineyard, not the cellar. The winemaker's job is to get the wine into the bottle in the purest form possible. There are additives that go into making wine, some are essential and some are not. Wines in this category do not have extra additives. They are free of added sulfur, or have the most minimal amounts possible in order to provide shelf stability for the consumer to experience the wine as the winemaker intended it to be.
