A Personal Favorite Cabernet Franc, in a Perfect Drinking Window
If you’re a regular reader, first I want to say thank you, you will know that Cabernet Franc was the grape that first pulled me into the world of wine, and Bourgueil was one of the regions that made me realize just how interesting wine could be. Over the years Lamé-Delisle-Boucard remains one of my most reliable reference points. Few producers deliver this level of quality for the price, and even fewer are as committed to expressing the character of each vintage rather than forcing the wine into a predetermined style. The 2020 is a perfect example of why I continue to return to this estate year after year.
Drawn from three steep hillside parcels—Beauvais, Brunetières, and Bézards—planted in clay-limestone soils, the Prestige cuvée represents a more mineral and structured expression of Bourgueil than the domaine's Vieilles Vignes bottling. Fermentation takes place in old wooden cone-shaped vats, with both punch-downs and pump-overs employed during a lengthy twenty-day maceration. The wine is then raised for twelve months in very old foudres, vessels chosen not to impart flavor but to allow the wine to evolve without obscuring its origin.
The result is a Cabernet Franc of equilibrium. Dark red and black fruits are rendered, framed by vibrant acidity and a distinctly limestone-driven mineral core. The texture is tighter-grained and more focused than many examples from the appellation, with an effortless balance that suggests both immediate enjoyment and considerable aging potential. A tiny bit of green but mostly explosive black pepper and violets abound around the red and black fruits with a silky tannin structure. This wine is excellent, and at just the right point in it’s life to start drinking perfectly.
What I love about Lamé-Delisle-Boucard is their fidelity to place and vintage. All the previous talk of weirdly shaped fermentation barrels, large old barrels for aging, et al are for a reason. In an era when technology allows winemakers to smooth away differences from year to year, this estate embraces what nature provides. Warm years look warm. Cooler years retain their tension. The wines remain unmistakably Bourgueil, carrying the signature of both site and season. There’s an honesty to that that I like, and it helps that the wines are good too.
That philosophy is rooted in a remarkable family history. The domaine traces its origins to 1869, when Pierre Guyot founded the estate. Today, Philippe Boucard represents the fifth generation. Beneath the vineyards lies an extraordinary labyrinth of limestone caves, carved into the tuffeau rock beneath the Loire Valley. These cellars house an astonishing collection of old vintages stretching back more than a century.
The 2020 Prestige captures that tradition beautifully. It is a serious Cabernet Franc that speaks clearly of clay-limestone hillsides, thoughtful farming, and a family that has spent generations refining its understanding of this terroir. It remains one of the finest values I know.
