Bourgueil "Domaine du Grand Clos" - red 75cl
100% Cabernet Franc
Domaine Audebert & Fils
Vintage 2022
A word from Cave de France: The Bourgueil "Domaine du Grand Clos" comes from about 8 to 9 hectares of old vines (averaging ~50 years old) planted on a sandy and silty clay terrace and a south-facing clay-limestone hillside. It combines finesse and structure: the nose evokes black fruits — Morello cherry, blackberry — with a slight touch of oak. The palate is fleshy and harmonious, with a soft texture and velvety tannins, supported by a long finish focused on stewed fruit, as noted by the Guide Hachette which describes it as "very successful".
Domaine Audebert & Fils, rooted in Bourgueil since 1839, is a family estate of over 40 hectares spread across Bourgueil, Saint-Nicolas-de-Bourgueil, and Chinon. Faithful to Cabernet Franc – locally called "Breton" – the estate cultivates this grape variety across a mosaic of terroirs, from silty sands to calcareous clays, and even gravel. The wines thus faithfully reflect the expression of each plot and vintage.
Bourgueil wines benefit from varied soils, imparting structure and depth: notes of ripe red fruits, sweet spices, with supple tannins for young vintages, and firmer tannins on clay-limestone terroirs for age-worthy wines from old vines.
In Saint-Nicolas-de-Bourgueil, the vines rest on Cenomanian gravel. The resulting wines are lighter, lively, and fruity, of remarkable elegance, always carrying a beautiful spring freshness.
The Domaine's Chinon wines are planted on silty sands along the Loire and Vienne rivers: here again, they express a softness, silky tannins, liveliness, and immediate deliciousness, perfect for drinking young, but capable of developing complexity in the medium term (5-8 years).
The estate combines traditional winemaking – fermentation in stainless steel tanks, indigenous yeasts, reasoned maceration – with careful aging (vats and 600l barrels), sometimes in troglodyte cellars, ensuring gentle oxygenation. This approach gives birth to wines of character, balanced, fruity, but also capable of improving with age.
The estate offers guided or self-guided cellar tours, with on-site tasting, and has long been featured on the menus of the best restaurants (Relais & Châteaux, Gault & Millau, Michelin), attesting to its significant local and professional recognition.