2011 Clau de Nell Leflaive Grolleau

Grolleau is – by now – a rare grape variety planted in the Loire valley. The rather high-yielding and early-ripening variety has an accentuated acidity and does not deliver high alcohol. This characteristic makes the former Loire classic interesting for producers such as Anne-Claude Leflaive, Christian Jacques and Sylvain Potin, the joint venture of Clau de Nell who strive for digestible, well-balanced wines with lower alcohol levels. The inky colored 2011 Grolleau is from 60- to 90-year-old goblet vines on a silty-clay terroir, comprising grit and red flint on tufa (limestone). Aged for 12 months on fine lees in fifth-use Burgundy casks and another 12 months on fine lees in vats, the unfined and unfiltered wine shows an attractive, well-balanced bouquet of red and black forest fruits (including elderberries and sloes) intertwined with delicious floral and earthy/fungous aromas. It is a fresh, straight, rather light to medium-bodied, meaty and slightly spicy wine with an accentuated acidity and an unpretentious expression of fruit. The ripe, meaty tannins are exclusively from the skins and give this attractive red a serious expression and a good structure. This wine should be served at 16° C.