NV Château du Petit Thouars “Les Georges” Chinon Rouge

The Chateau du Petit Thouars has an extraordinarily long and rich history. Built in the early 1500s as a sort of “low-key hunting lodge” (an amusing notion, given the house’s immensity and grandeur) for a wealthy family from the town of Thouars (hence the name “Petit Thouars”), the 150-hectare estate is run today by Sebastién du Petit Thouars, the twelfth generation to dwell here since his ancestor George purchased the property in 1636. George was a diplomat for the famous Cardinal Richelieu, and the generations who followed him managed to survive several centuries of remarkably turbulent French history; one of Sebastién’s forebears even fled the French Revolution and fought in the American Revolution.

Sébastien named this cuvée in honor of his ancestors, nearly all of whom are named George (in fact, his real first name is George, too). The friendliest of the estate’s three red-wine offerings, “Les Georges” is produced entirely from the free-run juice of the younger vines of Cabernet Franc, and is vinified and aged in steel tank. This cuvée comes primarily from “Les Plantes,” the thirteen hectares of Cabernet Franc immediately behind (to the west of) “Le Clos” which Sébastien’s father planted between 1978 and 1988. Far from a simple gulper, however, “Les Georges” is classic Chinon in its marriage of vibrant fruit, honest tannins, and refreshing earth-mineral interplay.