2018 Anjou Cuvee Violette
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Tasting notes
The 2018 Anjou Violette is deep, rich and very intense but elegant on the pure and refined nose, with dark fruit, tea and kumquat aromas. Full-bodied, deep and generous on the palate, this is a full-bodied, rich and generous, silky-textured, refined and tensioned Cabernet Franc and Cabernet Sauvignon blend that is one of the highlights of the vintage. Fabulous! A must buy! Tasted at the domaine in June 2021.
Critic scores
Jancis Robinson MW
Stephan Reinhardt, Wine Advocate
More reviews and scores
The 2018 Anjou Cuvée Violette is full-bodied and rounded, offering a soft embrace. True to its name, it does smell of violets as well as wood smoke, spice and dark black fruits. There's concentration here, no doubt due to the low yields off 70-year-old Cabernet Sauvignon vines and the 45-year-old Cabernet Franc. The tannins have been well handled and provide a frame of chalky structure. The merest whiff of barnyard meets the florals on the finish, but it's kept in check.
The biodynamic domaine begun by the late Anne-Claude Leflaive and now run by her widower. Two-thirds 35- and 45-year-old Cabernet Franc and one-third 60-year-old Cabernet Sauvignon vines on silty clay with sandstone and red flint on tuffeau. 40 hl/ha (30 hl/ha for the Cabernet Sauvignon) picked early October. Ambient yeast and a 30-day maceration without extraction and then aged on lees for 12 months in old barrels and then six months in tank. Bottled April 2020 without fining or filtration. Very dark crimson. Sumptuous nose that's silky with a bit more substance underneath than the pure Cab Franc. Luscious and fresh but with pure, unadulterated fruit. Extremely seductive but with some freshness too. Lovely crunchy finish. (JR)