Bourgueil (Loire)

Bourgueil is one of the Loire Valley's benchmark red appellations, a dry, medium-bodied Cabernet Franc from the north bank of the Loire in Touraine. Slightly sturdier and more ageworthy than neighbouring Chinon, it marries bright red-berry and cassis fruit to an earthy, leafy-herbal savouriness and a firm, tuffeau-limestone structure.