Richard Leroy
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127 Vin de France 2008 Clos des Rouliers
Richard LeroyGrape:100% Chenin (12.5% alc.)
There is a finesse and restraint to this wine (from only 0.70 hectares of low-yielding vines) with a mineral flavour imparted by the schist. Fermented completely dry with the malolactics completed and no batonnage, it shows chenin in its most elegant style. For drinking now to 2017+. From 2008 Richard decided to label Clos des Rouliers and Noëls de Montbenault, both usually bottled under the Anjou appellation, as Vin de France; a new classification allowing the winemakers to state the grape and the vintage on the label without mentioning the appellation. The reason for that is that Richard was not happy with the rules of the AOC Anjou. According to him, this AOC is far too vast (spread on a total of 80 villages) and is covering far too many different sorts of terroirs with no real unity (you’ll find on the Anjou AC more or less all the type of soils you can possibly think of i.e. clay, limestone, schist, etc) and the cahier des charges is not restrictive enough. For example, if a producer in Saumur is not happy with his wines, he can declassify them under the Anjou AC! So, for Richard, there is no notion of quality coming with this Anjou AC. As a result, even if his wines were receiving the agrément easily year after year, he decided not to present them anymore to emphasize the lack of reliability from the INAO. In the meantime he is working alongside other growers in the region trying to create a new hierarchy of appellations for Anjou that more accurately reflect the area’s widely differing terroirs.
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128 Anjou AC 2007 Les Noels de Montbenault
Richard LeroyGrape:100% Chenin (13% alc.)
The vines here are planted in the centre of an ancient volcano on the plateau of a windy ridge of hills overlooking the river Layon. Harvested from only ripe grapes (any botyritised grapes were individually cut out) and fermented dry, the wine has a sumptuous concentration on the palate, with a hint of quince and a notable mineral (irony) flavour. Rich but balanced and very long on the finish, this is an exceptional wine. For drinking now to 2020+.
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