"Spicy and bright, this is a meaty franc with notes of tobacco and violets. The bottling sulfur might make you sneeze, but that will dissipate with six months and the wine should begin to open up. The tannic grip suggests cellaring it for a few years.”
- Wine & Spirits Magazine (April 2019), 90 pts - BEST BUY
"Silky and bright, with bell pepper, cigar box and mulberry flavors, all mingling to create an herbal impression. Pretty typical, but a bit more polished. Offers a moderately long finish. Drink now through 2023. 3,000 cases made, 200 cases imported. — AZ”
- Wine Spectator (May 2020), 88 pts
"Winemaker Lionel Métaireau ferments and ages this wine in stainless steel, where malolactic fermentation has taken it in a creamy direction. It may come off as outright lactic at first, but some time and air puts the black pepper and strawberry jam flavors into sharp focus. Rich enough for a pasta bolognese."
- Wine & Spirits (June 2021), 91 pts
"Noël Bougrier and his son, Nicolas, manage this expansive estate of 247 acres across the Loire Valley. Lionel Métaireau makes the wines, including this textbook cabernet franc. The violet color might catch your eye before you even smell the slightly herbal, red-fruited aromas. “Chinon is like Bordeaux light,” one taster said, describing how the flavors dance from plum skin to cassis, to game, earth and tobacco, all with a delicacy that speaks of the village’s cool conditions."
- Wine & Spirits (Spring 2022), 93 pts BEST BUY
