MCF Rare Wine
Melaric: Crème de la Cab Franc
The other week, my friend Mike dropped by with a few wines to show me.
As is usually the case, we talked for a good 30-45 minutes about all manner of topical issues, mostly revolving around the somewhat Sisyphean task of raising kids and owning a small business in NYC...
...so when he finally poured me a taste of this wine, it was more than a welcomed relief from the heavy discussion...it was, well, Cab Franc sublimity.
It was actually a wine that he had shown me last year, which I loved at the time, but never got around to bringing it in. He tasted it in France and was bowled over by how much better it had gotten, and, thankfully for all of us, was able to nab one more drop of it.
Hang around the cool-kid wine scene in Paris or talk to great vignerons around France, and the mention of the Melaric estate in Saumur Pur Notre Dame will illicit nothing but the highest praise.
The proprietors Mélanie and Aymeric (combine and you get Melaric), have perhaps gained most of this attention for their glorious expressions of Chenin, but today we're talking about this head-shaking-ly brilliant Billes de Roche Rouge 2019.
It's 100% Cab Franc from the lieu dit of the same name, which is comprised of shallow clay over limestone chalk.
The ripeness of the 2019 vintage is settling in, allowing the ineffable, teasingly fleeting depth to emerge. This is an astoundingly pure, yet incredibly nuanced wine, with a texture and energy that it's almost impossible to convey.
It's the kind of wine that makes you just sigh in a moment of genuine gratitude with each sip.
It's not a powerhouse.
It's not a trophy.
It's just flat out delicious Saumur Cab Franc...
...and that's the point.
Call it...
...Crème de la Cab Franc...
MELARIC
Saumur Puy Notre Dame Rouge Billes de Roche 2019
You may order by calling 212.255.8870.
Matt Franco
MCF Rare Wine, Ltd
249 West 13th Street NYC 10011
212.255.8870
Looking for a wine you loved from a past newsletter or a favorite you can't find anywhere? Email Raphael at raphael@mcf-rarewine.com, and we'll do our best to find it for you!
