2018 Frédéric Mabileau ‘Les Rouillères’ Cabernet Franc

Frédéric Mabileau

France / Saint-Nicolas-de-Bourgueil / Frédéric Mabileau

It was with les Rouillères that it all began, the St Nicolas cuvée par excellence: light, fruity and full of finesse. This wine epitomises everything that this unique terroir offers in terms of purity, freshness and pleasure. The fruit comes from organic-certified, biodynamically farmed vines with an average age of 40 years, planted on gravelly sand soils and hand-harvested at 43hl/ha. Fully destemmed and sorted on a table before a pre-ferment cold soak. Fermented in temperature-controlled stainless steel, without pigeage but regularly pumped over. The wine spends eight months in stainless steel and is naturally cold stabilised. It's racked twice prior to bottling.

October, 2021

Rebecca Gibb MW

Vinous Media

89 points.

The 2018 Rouillères hails from the sandy gravels of Saint-Nicolas de Bourgueil, yielding a light-bodied, crunchy style that has fresh red currant and black currant fruit as well as pencil lead aromas. While this is a ripe vintage, it remains bright and fresh with gentle, fine tannins. A raspberry fragrance provides a scented, lengthy finish.

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About Frédéric Mabileau

Frédéric Mabileau is an organic-certified, biodynamic estate based in Saint-Nicolas-de-Bourgueil in the Loire, where the family’s winegrowing history dates back to 1620. Inspired by his father Jean-Paul Mabileau, Frédéric kicked off his own project in 1988 when he planted his vines on a parcel owned by wife Nathalie called Rouillères - a name now given to the estate’s entry level Anjou Chenin Blanc and Saint-Nicolas-de-Bourgueil Cabernet Franc. When Jean-Paul retired in 2003, Frédéric and Nathalie combined two domaines into one. Frédéric immediately took stock of the vineyard holdings, embarking on a painstaking study of the terroirs before establishing his own range of wines. Today they own 28 hectares across the Saint Nicolas de Bourgueil, Bourgueil, Saumur and Anjou appellations. When Frédéric's life was cut tragically short by a light-aircraft accident on the eve of the 2020 vintage, sons Charly and Rémy stepped unflinchingly to fill his shoes alongside Nathalie.

About

The estate is named for Frédéric Mabileau, who kicked off his own project in 1988 and made his name as a leading light of Saint-Nicolas-de-Bourgueil. With characteristic dynamism and flair, Frédéric composed wines of character and vitality from these various appellations, with wife Nathalie always at his side. When Frédéric was killed in a light-aircraft accident on the eve of the 2020 harvest, Nathalie took charge, with sons Charly and Rémy in support. Charly is a Bordeaux restaurateur with viticultural studies under his belt, while younger brother Rémy spent three consecutive harvests working alongside Frédéric before stepping into the shoes of his talented father.