2017 Bourgueil, Les Marsaules, Gauthier, Domaine du Bel Air, Loire

At this early stage, the 2017 Bourgueil Domaine du Bel Air les Marsaules opens raw and bloody on the deep and meaty as well as stony iron-rich nose when poured straight from the bottle. After a couple of days, the bouquet changes and opens up and becomes charmingly ripe and fruit-intense, with red rather than dark fruit aromas and a remarkably refined terroir tone with stony and tea aromas.Medium to full-bodied, rather more light than heavy and stimulatingly fresh, this is an elegant, refined and silky-textured Cabernet Franc with firm and peppery tannins and a lingering fresh and salivating finish. The palate also changes a lot with air, and I highly recommend giving the wine a lot of air because, otherwise, it tastes very firm robust and pithy, quite malty, but it doesn’t show much flow. 13% alcohol. Drink 2023 - 2035Stephan Reinhardt, Wine Advocate (August 2021)