TOFT: 2009 Clos Rougeard (Foucault) Saumur Champigny.

WINE TALK
#1

Textbook. Outstanding. Distinctive.

Just released, just received, highly allocated. I only got my grubby paws on a few, including the higher-end cuvees, Le Bourg and Les Poyeux. The domaine bottling is 100% Cab Franc from the Saumur Champigny region of Loire, clay-rich soils.

Stuffing away the Le Bourg and Les Poyeux for long-term storage, one had to be sacrificed for the cause. I so love the '09 vintage in Chinon and Saumur. An exceptional vintage that stirred me to buy deeply (2005 and 2010 as well). The Baudry line-up, across the board, is stunning. Joguet produced some winners as well. Domaine Guion knocked it out of the park with an old-school, rustic wine of exceptional value. From the Baudry elegance, to the slightly modern Joguet, to the rusticity of Guion, lots to choose from in this vintage.

Clos Rougeard is another level.

Textbook Loire Cab Franc nose: Cigarette ash, brambly red fruits, crisp green pepper. The laser intensity of crunchy red fruits on the palate is remarkable. Amazing concentration and focus. Still primary, but after an hour open, showing some meat broth, salinity, tea leaves, dry forrest. Herbal, savoury. Moderate, chalky tannins, firm acids, medium finish. But the memory is indelible. This is classic stuff. The closest any Chinon of recent note that resembles this Rougeard, in my experience, is the Franc de Pied by Joguet, especially the 2005. (94 pts.)

As tempting as it is, I’m not touching another for a minimum of 5 years, likely 10 for the Le Bourg and Les Poyeux. These are vins de garde deserving of that respect, especially indeed at their current price-points. Ironic that Rougeard is considered Burgundian by some as the prices are certainly there!

Cheers, all.

Robert

#2

I neglected to comment about new oak and alcohol.

I neglected to comment as none of it was perceptible on this Rougeard. The wine was as it should be.

Rougeard evidently used, according to Parker, some “new Loire barrels” which he calls an exception, an “experiment prompted by the vintage.” I wish he would explain what that means, but for the final blending, I detected no new oak or even a semblance of any wood that was out of balance for the total composition.

The alcohol, 12.5 percent, was also entirely unnoticeable. Well, it became very noticeable when we segued to a decent quality St. Emilion that my sister popped, same 09 vintage, that showed headiness at its 14.5%. A nice wine, but that 2 percent difference in alcohol was huge. My brother in law later popped a higher quality CDP from '09 that was blowing at 15.5%. The latter was undrinkable to me, complete liquor.

Rougeard is a true wine of balance.

#3

Great note Robert. As a side note, I need to get my hands on one of these. I’m still quite salty because of an incident at a SF restaurant where I ordered this wine but suspect that I was served something else. Reading your notes solidifies my suspicion.

Regardless, it sounds truly great, even in a hot year in the Loire. Can’t go wrong with Rougeard.

F

#4

Please as this to CT for this is the first '09 vintage rougeard tasted thus far

#5

Sorry MarcF - I’m not on CT. Not geeky enough.

Been laughing so hard at this tasting note on the 09 Les Poyeux:

Need a dictionary to comprehend it! Sounds tasty tho!

#6

That price tag turns my head!

#7

I paid:

Saumur Champigny - $78
Les Poyeux - $98
Le Bourg - No comment…








Ok, embarrassed to admit it. Le Bourg was $149.

#8

These are some of the very few wines that I have been buying without fail every year for quite a number of years now. I should be picking up my 2009s from my usual Rougeard dealer some time in mid-January. Although these have never really been cheap, I hadn’t even thought to ask about the prices, as there hadn’t really been that much Rougeard-pricing fluctuation in Europe over the last ten years, apart from a small hike every three or so years.
This thread has caused me to look in on the pricing here in Europe for 2009, and my eyes literally popped out.

#9

Rougeard is the real deal…if I had the money I would be all over these

#10

The 1996 was the first vintage I bought on release. The Bourg was ~50. I think it’s probably $140-150 now.

#11

I bought the 06 clos for about half of what the 09 is going for. Not sure if i’m in at the current prices.

Elliot

#12

I didn’t get into these until the '01s but my price on the Bourg was $50 even as late as the '02s.

#13

These are kicking around the East Bay at 60-62 per. Have not seen any of the higher end bottles. Seems like a pretty solid deal.

#14

These days sadly not too bad. We have a yearly allocation of the above as well as the Breze. We paid $59, $89, 129, which is a $10 increase over the past two vintages

#15

2002 Bourg at $50 would be less than the wholesale price on that wine in my market and the NY market should be about the same (this is not a DI wine through LDM).

For a while, the west coast pricing could be substantially better.

#16

K&L had the best pricing on the 09s but they cleared out lickity split!

#17

How are the 08s. I’ve got my eye on some and can’t decide whether to pull the trigger. Pricing is at $115 for the Bourg - probably $120 all in with shipping.

#18

The 2008s need time. Lots of time. They seem like good buys, but only if you are planning to forget about them for at least a decade.

#19

Yes, the trick (at least for awhile) was to buy these from the West Coast where they were 50% or more cheaper than the East Coast bottles via LDM.