2023 Domaine du Bel Air Bourgueil Les Vingt Lieux Dits (750ml)

"... [a] hidden-gem domaine that is also one of the benchmarks for the Bourgueil appellation." - Andrew Kitz, B-21 Loire Buyer

We had been searching for the wines of Pierre and Rodolphe Gauthier at Domaine du Bel-Air, since tasting the full range early last year, and finally the opportunity materialized in late autumn. Now, we not only have access, but we have direct access. The latest addition to our Loire direct-import stable is a benchmark of red wine excellence, all the way from their stunning, old-vine, single-vineyard cuvees to the entry-level 2023 Les Vingt Lieux Dits, "a classic, old-school Loire Cab Franc in all the best ways," as B-21 Buyer Andrew Kitz describes it.

As you might assume, this Cabernet Franc is a blend of up to twenty of the domaine's micro-parcels in Bourgueil, with average vine ages of 40 years. Long, cold-soak maceration, natural yeast fermentation, and aging for 12 months in used barrels all contributes to the wine's classic expression of youthful Cabernet Franc. The cooler vintage resulted in a wine with restrained yet concentrated fruit, assertive mineral backbone, and varietally pure character all the way through. The 2023 vintage very much favored the Gauthier brothers' style, which is to say this is a structurally solid Cabernet Franc with real substance and cellar potential, all for an incredible $25 price.

As good as the Vingt Lieux-Dits is, it's the single-vineyard cuvées that cement the domaine's reference-point reputation, and the Grand Mont is the crown jewel in the stable. Vinous' Rebecca Gibb describes the 2021 single-vineyard wines as "long-lived, elegant classics" and the 94-point Grand Mont in particular as "savory and serious ... precise, balanced, and full of sinew." Much like 2023, the 2021 vintage was cool growing season that favored the domaine style, and the Grand Mont is an impeccable example of the very best qualities of classic, top-end Loire Cabernet Franc.