Domaine du Collier Saumur La Ripaille Rouge 2020

If La Charpentrie Rouge is the more muscular, concentrated expression, La Ripaille is its more refined, aromatic counterpart — and the two cuvées together reveal just how much this single estate can say about Saumur's Cabernet Franc. While the reputation of Clos Rougeard was built primarily on age-worthy Cabernet Francs from Saumur-Champigny, the identity of Domaine du Collier is rooted in the grand whites of Chenin Blanc from the limestone-rich hillsides of Brézé — and the remaining third of the estate, planted to Cabernet Franc, is divided between the important lieu-dits of La Ripaille and La Charpentrie. All vineyard work and harvesting is done by hand, only native yeasts are used, and fermentation is controlled naturally by the conditions of Antoine's underground cellars — his 17th-century low-humidity cellar reserved specifically for the Cabernet Franc, with elevage of at least 24 to 36 months without racking. 

La Ripaille sits at the more ethereal end of the Domaine du Collier spectrum — offering fine nuances of dried herbs and spices, fresh cherries, tangerine zest, and a smoky, damp-gravel minerality with a balsamic edge in the background. Dark-fruited and brooding in youth, it carries a lifted floral edge — ripe blackberries, cassis, and crushed violets on a deep, resonant core — full-bodied yet impeccably balanced, with fine-grained tannins that glide rather than grip. These are regal, powerful wines of brilliant composition and precision — a wine that moves with poise, capturing something like a hypothetical blend of Volnay's silkiness and Saint-Émilion's depth and substance. Patience is rewarded handsomely.