It’s taken a turn towards true fall here in NY, with a rainy day that would not quit yesterday!  I pulled out this Chinon for steak night and it was just the cozy, warming wine we needed.  We started with a steak from Hudson and Charles.  This Cabernet Franc hails from the Chinon AOC.  The Joguet family had been growing grapes in the Loire Valley for years when son Charles decided to establish the family name in a domaine all their own in 1957.  This wine from their “Clos de la Dioterie” single vineyard is made with their oldest vines, hand-tended and harvested last so that grapes come to full, ripe, maturity.  This wine is aged in oak for 1-3 years and is something you could sit on for several years to come.  

That being said, we may have jumped the gun a bit because the oak was certainly present.  But fruit, acid, and overall taste were all delicious and indicative of what this wine will only continue to become.  A nose of “violets and bandaids” and a palate of black fruits and plums.  Definitely a good match for the steaks, but if you come across this wine, I’d say buy a few bottles, try one now, and lay one down to try again in a few years!