Bourgueil Les Côteaux du Levant 2022 Domaine de La Butte | Loire

Coteaux du Levant is a new cuvée released by Domaine de la Butte for the 2018 vintage, produced from Cabernet Franc grown on limestone terroir covered with flint conglomerate. The vines are relatively young and grown according to organic farming principles. Yields are reduced to 35 hectoliters per hectare to preserve fruit quality. This cuvée is totally destemmed to give it a fresher, more spontaneous character than other cuvées on the wine estate.

Philippe Mischler, sommelier at Mundovin: Bourgueil Coteaux du Levant from the Domaine de la Butte is a brand-new wine produced by Jacky Blot, who wanted to enrich his range with a wine that was more approachable in its youth, while still expressing the terroir and fruit to the full. Winemaking is fairly traditional, in concrete vats for around 1 year, followed by ageing in 60 hectoliter tuns for ⅓ of the cuvée. The remaining ⅔ of the cuvée is aged in two- to three-wine barrels.

On the nose, the wine already expresses all its splendor, a Cabernet Franc beautifully vinified with great class and elegance. There are lovely notes of tart red fruit, a hint of verbena, redcurrant and a touch of rose petal.

The palate is greedy, juicy and very well balanced between freshness and tannins. This is Jacky Blot's style, with little extraction and a quest for precision in the expression of the Bourgueil terroir.