Chateau Soucherie Anjou Rouge 2009

Cabernet Franc freaks everyone out. Don't be freaked out! It all doesn't taste like green peppers, in fact, most of it doesn't.  Cabernet franc can be textured, dense and cocoa-y.  Often with a kick of dark cherry too.  Now does that sound so bad? 

Chateau Soucherie Anjou Rouge is from the Loire region in France and is, yes, 90% cabernet franc and 10% of a little obscure grape called grolleau. 

Often thought of as a blending grape in Bordeaux wines cabernet franc is often looked over, but the Loire grown version is a lighter, higher acid/lower tannin, early-maturing, perfumed red varietal. It is the headliner in the Loire Valley appellations of Saumur-Champigny, Bourgueil, St-Nicolas-de-Bourgueil, Chinon and Anjou-Villages, where it makes exceptional, food-friendly wines. This is no exception.

The 2009 Soucherie Anjou is dense (as mentioned) full of floral and cherry notes in the nose and ripe, concentrated red fruits and a touch of cocoa on the palate with great minerality and an impressionable finish. Eat it with a burger tonight!

Soucherie Anjou Rouge $19 a bottle

meet the winemaker

Pierre Yves Tijou
Ah...a man and his tractor, but that's not all! Pierre-Yves's family has been passing its traditions on to new generations since 1780. He took over Chateau Soucherie from his father in 1968. He runs the estate with his wife, Brigitte, and their two sons. In its past almost all of the wine produced was sold off to a negociant. At the beginning of Pierre-Yves Tijou's tenure as winemaker he began to bottle a portion of the production. Today he estate-bottles the entire harvest.

The Chateau is located in the Loire Valley near Angers and was purchased from the Marquis de Brissac in 1952. Soucherie is composed of 30 hectares of vineyards, approximately 18.5 hectares of Chenin Blanc, 7 hectares of Cabernet Sauvignon and Cabernet Franc; and there are small parcels of Sauvignon Blanc, Chardonnay and Gamay. Total production at the estate is between 5,000 and 6,200 cases a year.