Sourced from a single parcel in Brézé, La Ripaille is one of Antoine Foucault's purest expressions of Cabernet Franc. Compared with La Charpentrie, it is often the more immediately approachable wine, offering vibrant red and black berry fruit, crushed stone minerality, savoury spice and finely etched tannins. The hallmark freshness of Saumur is complemented by remarkable concentration and precision, while the domaine's extended élevage gives the wine exceptional texture and seamless integration.
94-96/100 - Heiner Lobenberg - Gute Weine

Within a short period of time Antoine Foucault is already making some of the most exciting wines in the Loire Valley. The Domaine du Collier was created in 1999 by Antoine (son of Charly Foucault from the famed Clos Rougeard) and his wife Caroline.

 Having worked at Clos Rougeard for four years and still at the young age of 26 he took the opportunity to buy four-hectares of vines (through his family) in the commune of Brézé in the best lieu-dit of ‘La Ripaille’. The estate comprises 6 hectares with the vast majority of the estate planted to Chenin Blanc (including some 100 year old vines) and just under a hectare of Cabernet Franc.

 Antoine is dedicated to natural viticulture, without the use of chemical treatments, fertilizers, or weed killers. The harvest is manual with strict sorting carried out in the vineyards. In his deep cellar, Antoine does not use commercial yeast, and doesn’t treat the wine with sulphur until bottling. His cellar is underground and actually part of Clos Rougeard. It is renowned for being very cold and this protects the wines in élevage and I think goes some way to explaining the glacial development of the wines in bottle. 

The end results are brilliant and it is probably no surprise that demand for them is very high and as a result they can be very hard to find.

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