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| Bourgueil is a small town in France’s Loire Valley, and a wine appellation named after the town. Bourgueil is just downriver from it’s more famous neighbor, Chinon, but forever seems to suffer from the limbo of WTF in a way that Chinon never does, even though the wines of Bourgueil can be superb as you will discover at tonight’s tasting. I think part of the reason that Chinon is well-known and Bourgueil remains obscure is that Chinon will forever be associated with a beloved figure of French literature: François Rabelais (some believe that Rabelais’ father once cultivated a vineyard near the town). Rabelaisian has become a term that connotes unrestrained debauchery, and Rabelais wrote lovingly about the wines of Chinon. When you visit the town of Chinon you see Rabelais elevated to a totem, with Rabelais this and that. Bourgueil has no famous son or daughter of similar notoriety. Another reason for the fame of Chinon wines is that it is, like Sancerre, an easy word for an American to pronounce, whereas Bourgueil is not. (I have been drinking and enjoying Bourgueil for nearly three decades and still cannot pronounce it as I hear it spoken by Francophones—the best I can do is a poor approximation, “boor-goy.”) Finally, one final reason for Chinon > Bourgueil may be gravel, found both in Chinon and Bourgueil, but to a much greater extent in Bourgueil. Gravel makes fresh, lighter wines, and if you fetishize aged wines, basic, gravel-grown Bourgueil is probably not the best thing with which to stock your cellar. However, the same formation of limestone tuffeau that yields the finest Chinon may also be found in Bourgueil, just not quite as much as in Chinon, so perhaps that’s why the wines never gained a reputation for ageability. Tonight, we have an exceptional grower of Bourgueil from a family with deep roots in the region, Stephanie Caslot. I was able to visit the family domain nearly a decade ago, but by the time we arrived, it was too dark to make our way to the vines so we met to taste with Stephanie’s father Pierre in their vast, subterranean cellar (Stephanie explains that they are now equipped with headlamps for folks like us who arrive after dark). Pierre, who died a few years ago, was a genial, jolly fellow, very proud and justifiably so of his work, and I get a bit of him when talking with Stephanie. We’re tasting four different Bourgueil tonight, grown both on gravel and on tuffeau. |
| Domaine de la Chevalerie “Diptyque” Bourgueil 2017 Domaine de la Chevalerie “Bretêche” Bourgueil 2014 Domaine de la Chevalerie “Les Galichets” Bourgueil 2014 Domaine de la Chevalerie “Chevalerie” Bourgueil 2014 |