2002 Saumur Champigny Le Bourg

The Foucaults’ 2002 Saumur-Champigny Le Bourg displays a complex aromatic melange of machine, blackberry, smoked meat, resinous herbs, toasted nuts, sauteed mushrooms, flowers, and sweat. Sleek in texture, enormously rich and expansive in the mouth, yet retaining an invigorating core of acidity, it spreads salt and wet stone mineral traces, bitter black fruits and pungent herbs in the wake of its long, penetrating, juicy finish. I imagine this evolving into something like the glorious 1988 I was served on my recent visit. (For notes on the domaine’s whites, please consult the coverage of Anjou and Saumur elsewhere in this report. I did, incidentally, not have a chance to taste the Rougeard 2004s, nor any of their “Le Clos” bottling, which is assembled from several small parcels and lower-priced than their other offerings.) Aug 2007, www.robertparker.com

David Schildknecht, Vinous    Score: 92/100