Only 20% of the wine from Couly Dutheil finds its way out of France. One of the Loire Valley’s most famous estates, most of its wines are reserved at many of the finest restaurants in the country, including 21 of the 26 Michelin 3-Star restaurants in France. We’re excited to let you know that we have a small amount of that 20% that makes it out of France, and the wine we have isa stunner.
Couly Dutheil is a reference point for the appellation where Cabernet Franc is the King of Reds. The 2018 Couly Dutheil Chinon Clos de L'Echo is100% Cabernet Franc. The estate is known specifically for its wines from the grape. It’s (almost) all they do. Of the estate’s 200 acres of vines, 98% are planted with Cabernet Franc.
This wine is a single vineyard, fromthe estate’s “mythical’ Clos de L’Echo vineyard. Vinous calls Clos de L’Echo“one of the appellation’s finest sites.” It was the first acquired by the family, and it is also one of the first Châteaux in Chinon.
One sip of this flagship wine from a “mythical” vineyard might make you think you’re living in a fantasy where only the best wines are ever served. But rest assured, you’re in the real world, simply enchanted by the “captivating, powerful & complex nose with rich notes of black fruits and spices,” as described by Vinous. Wine Enthusiast gifts it 93 points and speaks of its “blackberry fruits and firm tannins.”
Established in 1921 by Baptiste Dutheil, today Couly-Dutheil remains a family Domaine, owned by the third and fourth generations. Arnaud Couly is the current winemaker, having taken over from his father in 2003. Withfour generations of intimate work with Cab Franc, the estate is deft with its vinification of the grapes that come from the estate’s vineyards—that sit mainly on gravel, clay, chalk, and siliceous soils—managed undersustainable and "culture raisonnée" practices.
BHW has this Michelin Star restaurant-worthy wine at a10% discount. This is aspecial wine from an extraordinary vineyardin France. It may not have ended up on a Michelin Star restaurant table with others from the vintage, but it stilldeserves to be on a special table—the one in your home.
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