Clos Rougeard : Brézé 2018

Tasting notes and serving tips for the Brézé 2018 from Clos Rougeard

Tasting

Color

The wine shows a bright, pale hue with luminous highlights.

Nose

The nose reveals a pronounced minerality alongside notes of yellow fruits. Softer impressions gradually unfold, enhanced by delicate herbal nuances.

Palate

On the palate, the minerality and yellow-fruit aromas persist with concentration. The palate expresses a mineral tension reminiscent of great white wines from Bourgogne, notably Puligny-Montrachet. The finish reveals an underlying richness, a saline character and sweet herbal impressions that evolve into a savory expression. New oak, present yet measured, provides structural support without overpowering the expression of the terroir.

Food and wine pairings

This Brézé 2018 pairs perfectly with preparations of raw fish such as sushi and sashimi. It also elegantly complements oysters and other seafood, bloomy-rind goat cheeses, poultry in creamy sauces, as well as seasonal vegetables.

Serving and cellaring

Brézé 2018 is best served at a temperature between 8 and 10°C. Aerating beforehand or decanting allows the wine to fully reveal its complexity. This wine can be enjoyed until around 2036.

A Loire chenin blanc with exceptional minerality from the historic Brézé terroir

The estate

Clos Rougeard is among the most prestigious estates in the Loire Valley. Established in 1664 in Chacé in the Saumur-Champigny appellation, the estate was run for more than forty years by the Foucault brothers, who built its international reputation. Since 2017, the property has belonged to the Bouygues family, which also owns Château Montrose in Bordeaux and Domaine Henri Rebourseau in Bourgogne. Cyril Chirouze has overseen winemaking since 2023. The estate now spans fifteen hectares farmed organically and produces wines of remarkable purity, sought after by the greatest collectors.

The vineyard

Brézé comes from a one-hectare parcel planted with sixty-year-old chenin blanc vines, located on the historic Brézé hillside within the Saumur appellation. Renowned for five centuries, this terroir rests on sandy clay and marly limestone soils that give the wine its distinctive minerality. Brézé wines were once served at the court of Versailles under Louis XIV. Today, only four producers vinify wines under this designation across the area’s 400 hectares.

The vintage

The 2018 vintage in Loire benefited from a favorable spring, enabling successful flowering and fruit set. Summer was marked by warm, humid conditions, followed by a hot, dry period during harvest. These conditions made it possible to obtain ripe, concentrated grapes while preserving the structural acidity essential to the balance of chenin blanc.

Winemaking and aging

The grapes for Brézé 2018 are vinified in concrete tanks with native yeasts to preserve the fruit’s primary character and the terroir’s mineral expression. The wine is then aged in French oak barrels for eighteen to twenty-four months, with 20% new oak, before bottling.

Grape variety

100% chenin blanc