Wine Type: Red
Vintage: 2022
Bottle Size: 750mL
Blend: Cabernet Franc
Appellation: Bourgueil
Country: France
Region: Loire
Producer: Domaine de la Chanteleuserie
Winemaker: Thierry Boucard
Vineyard: Planted from 1967 - 1980, 8 ha
Soil: Sand, Clay
Aging: Fermented and aged in stainless steel cuves
Farming: Lutte Raisonnée
Alcohol: 13.5%

Thierry Boucard is the seventh generation in his family making wine in Bourgueil, and reminders of his ancestors are everywhere. For starters, his tasting room is built in his grandfather’s old cellar, and fermentation for all red wines takes place in giant oak vats that are at least 125 years old, in which a century’s worth of harvesters have been doing pigeage the traditional way: by foot. After bottling, wines live in champignonnières—an underground labyrinth of perfectly humid tuffeau caves where locals used to grow mushrooms. Rich in heritage, Alouettes harkens to a different era: it’s pleasantly tannic and chalky, with sleek notes of licorice, cranberry, and prickly instances of cracked black pepper.

—Jane Augustine