2021 Bourgueil, Jour de Soif, Gauthier, Domaine du Bel Air, Loire

Cabernet Franc is widely planted in Bordeaux and is the most important black grape grown in the Loire. In the Médoc it may constitute up to 15% of a typical vineyard - it is always blended with Cabernet Sauvignon and Merlot and is used to add bouquet and complexity to the wines. It is more widely used in St.Emilion where it adapts well to the cooler and moister clay soils - Cheval Blanc is the most famous Cabernet Franc wine in the world, with the final blend consisting of up to 65% of the grape.

Bourgueil is a qualitatively-important, dry red wine appellation in Touraine, if quantitatively small at 1,500 hectares. Located west of Tours, its vineyards are planted with Cabernet Franc on calcareous clay and sandy soils gently inclined towards the River Loire. The wines are medium to full-bodied, possessing rich, perfumed raspberry and forest-fruit characters underpinned by a fine structure.