Saint Nicolas de Bourgueil 'Les Rouilleres' Frederic Mabileau 2020

St Nicolas de Bourgueil ‘Les Rouilleres’ was the first wine Frederic Mabileau made. It is an attractive and textured Cabernet Franc with delicious red fruit flavours, gentle spice and a freshness that brings the whole wine together. It is a pure and pleasurable wine that offers immediate enjoyment. The Rouilleres vineyard is an 18 ha plot based on gravel soils with, on average, 38 year old vines.

Based in Saint Nicolas de Bourgueil, in the Loire Valley’s Touraine region, Frederic Mabileau is a 28 ha estate which has emerged over the last 20 years as one of the world’s greatest producers of Cabernet Franc. The Domaine has been run by Frederic’s wife, Natalie and her two sons, Charly & Remy since the tragic passing of Frederic in August 2020.

Frederic planted his first vines in the late 1980’s in the ‘Rouilleres’ vineyard which was owned by Natalie. Here he farmed the grapes for the ‘Rouilleres’ cuvee and later Eclipse. After his dad retired in 2003, Frederic combined his Domaine with his dads which gave him vineyard holdings in St Nicolas de Bourgueil, Bourgueil, Saumur and Anjou. The Domaine has been certified Organic since 2007 and Biodynamic since 2018. These are some of the most pure and complex expressions of Cabernet Franc we have come across. They are a testament to the love and hard work which Frederic put into his vineyards.