100% Cabernet Franc. Les Arboises is a subsection of the limestone-dominant Brézé hill. This is Guiberteau’s top red from a renowned red terroir. The monopole parcel was planted in 1957 on a very rocky, chalky site, and produces super-graceful and mineral expressions of Saumur. The fruit was fully destemmed and naturally fermented in concrete before resting for 18 months in a mixture of new, one, two, and three-year-old barrels. Guiberteau ages this cuvée for longer than his other reds, both in barrel and bottle, feeling this site’s more angular tannins require extra refinement.

This wine takes it to a whole new level: it’s emblematic of the style, structure, and resonant depth of this producer’s boundary-pushing reds. The 2018 is alluring and inviting in style. Guiberteau is using just one-fifth new oak these days (early releases used closer to 50%) and the warmth of 2018 has worked wonders on curving out the site’s limestone tannins. The result is a pure, aromatic and succulent Arboises, full of classy, glowing fruit, a stiffening line of tension and a focussed and finely drawn close. Think cru-level Burgundy before Bourgueil!