2017 Chinon Clos des Chene Vert

From one of the oldest crus of the whole appellation, the 2017 Chinon Clos du Chêne Vert comes from a vineyard located in the city itself, so on the right bank of the Vienne River. The very steep two-hectare slope is southwest-facing and on clay and siliceous-calcareous soils and yielded 30 hectoliters per hectare in 2017. Fermented in wooden vats and aged in one- to three-year-old barrels, this Cabernet Franc opens with a remarkably deep and fine yet intense, elegant and seamless bouquet of dark berries, raw meat, blood and crushed stones, yet all of this is not in an animal way but noble and inviting. The wine is pure and fresh, with a nervy-mineral drive under the silky-refined and elegant texture, and it reveals an intense, licoricey, well-balanced and even charming, long, vital and iodine-laced finish with intense ripe fruits and silky tannins. This is an impressive wine. Although the 2017 already tastes terrific, it can be cellared for 20 or more years. This is an icon wine of the appellation, and if there hadn’t been a pandemic, I would immediately have asked for a vertical. Tasted in June 2021.