Violette AOC 2021

Powerfully built yet woven with a light touch: the Violette combines a floral top note with rich dark fruit and a tannin that gives structure without ever broadening. A wine suited to large glasses or a decanter.

Domaine Clau de Nell lies in Ambillou-Château in Anjou, 90 metres above sea level and 120 kilometres from the Atlantic; cool nights and warm days shape the ripening cycle. The soils are silty-clay, with pebbles and red flint over tuffeau. Anne-Claude Leflaive and Christian Jacques acquired the estate in 2008; its name comes from the previous owners, Claude and Nelly Pichard. Cellar master Sylvain Potin, formerly a sommelier, joined in 2009.

66.66% Cabernet Franc from vines averaging 45 to 55 years old, 33.33% Cabernet Sauvignon from vines around 70 years old. Yields are around 45 hectolitres per hectare for the Cabernet Franc and just over 35 for the Cabernet Sauvignon. Hand-harvested, destemmed, 30 days of maceration with gentle punching down of the cap, followed by gentle pneumatic pressing. Spontaneous fermentation and twelve months' ageing in 228-litre Burgundy barrels, bottled on a fruit day.

The nose opens with violet, hollyhock and rosehip, followed by blackberry, black mulberry and black cherry, alongside pink peppercorn, black pepper, clove, allspice, cardamom and dark tobacco. On the palate, transparent freshness and shimmering aromatics, the tannin clearly present yet woven into the airy structure, the fruit ethereal, the spices balsamic.

Red cabbage salad with orange dressing and croutons, hot-smoked wood mackerel on beetroot carpaccio with charcoal oil and smoked vinegar, or quail with red chard and mashed potatoes.

Biodynamic since as early as 2000, so predating the change of ownership; certified biodynamic, with the Demeter logo on the label. The estate's average vine age is 60 years, with some parcels over a hundred years old. Dry, 13.0% vol.