Pinot Noir/Gamay Rosé, Francois Cazin 'la petit chambord'

Created in 1993, the Cheverny region in the Loire Valley is one of the most recent appellations added to the AOC (Appellation d'Origine Contrôlée). The area, south of the Loire and abutting the marshy region of Sologne (the best hunting grounds in France), has produced wines since the 6th century. The soils consist of various combinations of clay, limestone and silica. Many varietals are planted: Pinot Noir, Gamay, Cabernet and Côt for red wines, Sauvignon Blanc, Chardonnay, Chenin and Menu Pineau for the whites. 

François Cazin tends vines of considerable age and the resulting yields are well below average in any given year. His Cheverny is fresh and floral, with appley-texture and crisp acidity. The flavors are sleek and precise. Since 1997, the wine has been bottled unfiltered by gravity. His wines have consistently been the top pick of the vintage at the annual Loire Valley wine show in Angers.  

Cazin also makes a this delicious dry Rosé cuvée called 'Le Petit Chambord' made of Pinot Noir, Gamay and Côt. From estate vines averaging thirty years old on clay-limestone soils, sustainably farmed and harvested by hand. The varieties are vinified separately, each being fermented spontaneously with native yeasts and without sulfur. The Pinot Noir and Côt are destemmed and fermented separately; they are aged separately in used oak. The Gamay undergoes a whole-cluster, semi-carbonic maceration and is aged in tank. The three wines are blended and bottled in the spring after the vintage, with a small amount of sulfur.