Domaine Taillandier — Cabernet D’anjou Rosé Cuvée Elégance 2019
An unusual Loire rosé — mature, dark and off-dry
- Domaine Taillandier — Cabernet D’anjou Rosé Cuvée Elégance 2019
- ACCUEIL — domaine Taillandier
This was another mark-down wine from a closing down sale that I had bought on spec. I wasn’t quite sure what to expect, so asked a couple of more knowledgeable people.
Master of Wine and rosé expert Liz Gabay says: Cabernet d’Anjou can age beautifully. Had a 1966 a few weeks ago.
Loire specialist Chris Kissack adds: Cabernet d’Anjou can age — those from Bablut from the 70s and 80s still drinking very well. Unusual and perhaps acquired taste with that much bottle age — not like any other wine I’ve tasted.
A bit of online research will tell you that Cabernet d’Anjou is a somewhat unusual appellation — it is specifically reserved for rosés grown in Anjou wines and made from the Cabernets Sauvignon and France. Unlike pale, delicate, slightly insipid Provence rosés, this Loire is dark, complex, savoury and off-dry with balanced acidity and good tannic structure making it more age-worthy than Rosé d’Anjou .
Fruit-driven and complex, Cabernet d’Anjou’s hallmarks are strawberry, raspberry, roses and a hint of white pepper on the finish — the trademark of Cabernet Franc.
Domaine Taillandier — Cabernet D’anjou Rosé Cuvée Elégance 2019 (rosé) (£19.99 / £4.99, Wines of the Loire)
They say:
The Cabernet d’Anjou Rosé from Domaine Taillandier is produced between Savennières and Rochefort sur Loire with Cabernet vines. This wine is produced on slopes facing south. The soil is made up of gravel and clay.
Get Tom Lewis’s stories in your inbox
Join Medium for free to get updates from this writer.
We do not use pesticides and insecticides: natural agriculture. The grapes are harvested by hand. Vinification is traditional and lasts for 5 long months with clarification by repeated racking.
A bright, orange-pink colour with salmon reflections, it is a wine with a fine, fresh, lively and minty nose, with aromas of raspberries and currants. On the palate, it is tender and greedy with delicately sweet notes of red fruits and English candies. An excellent companion for spicy Mediterranean or even oriental cuisine (curry).
I say:
12.5%
80% Cabernet Franc, 20% Cabernet Sauvignon
deep auburn; restrained nose of dried red berries; fresh and sweet with dried cranberries, wild strawberries and raspberry fruit; savoury salted caramel and crushed freeze-dried raspberry; long and saline, finishes dry.
Good
Drinks nicely on first pouring, opens up with aeration and can be cellared further.
Match with picnic foods with relishes, gravadlax, blue cheese or sophisticated curries.
Links:
Cabernet d’Anjou | Vins de Loire
Cabernet d’Anjou — French Wine Region | Wine-Searcher
Loire Valley — Expert Guides — Expert Guides — GuildSomm International
