Charles Joguet - Chinon Les Charmes rouge 2020

Silky in texture and with more depth than usual for this vintage, featuring fresh, refined tannins.

For Anne-Charlotte Genet, the quest for perfectly balanced tannins without any harshness is the key to wines that are enjoyable both young and aged. The result is alluring wines that embody charm, complexity, sensuality, and great refinement. With a rare insight into the vineyard and the winemaking process, this estate represents the very best of the Chinon region.

This very charming Les Charmes de Charles Joguet comes from low hills with clay-limestone soils. The nose reveals aromas of candied black cherries, earth, and slightly matured black olives, along with hints of smoke and violets. The palate features vibrant notes of cranberry and blackcurrant, very ripe and juicy. The oak adds a complementary touch of vanilla-like sweetness. Very pleasant.

The 2020 Chinon Les Charmes, vinified in wooden vats and aged for six months in the same type of containers, offers a deep, spicy bouquet of dark wild berries, violets, licorice, and rose petals, with a subtle hint of oak. Medium-bodied, layered, and textured, it is flawless, with fine-grained tannins and a long, taut, and ethereal finish framed by chalky dry extracts. This vintage is a superb expression of Cabernet Franc grown on clay-limestone soils.

Les Charmes opens with a floral burst and a wonderful freshness.

Founded in 1957 by Charles Joguet in Sazilly, on the left bank of the Vienne River, this estate has returned to the top of the Chinon appellation—a testament to the team in charge of winemaking and vineyard management, selected by owner Jacques Genet. They maintain a high standard of excellence, given the estate’s size. Above all, the winemakers have revived a vibrant spirit of freshness in their great Cabernet wines, which are unique in that they are grown on northeast-facing slopes. Few estates in the Loire have such essential flagship wines: Clos de la Dioterie (2 hectares of 80-year-old vines on clay-limestone soils, facing northeast, in Sazilly); Clos du Chêne Vert (2 hectares in the town of Chinon, facing southwest, on a steep slope with clay-limestone and flint-clay soils); Les Varennes du Grand Clos (4.5 hectares in Sazilly), aged eighteen months in barrels followed by ten months in bottles before release. As for the entry-level wines, they succeed in making Cabernet Franc approachable and refined, without losing the terroir’s character. This is a great quality! These modern Cabernet Francs, both refined and deep, pull off the remarkable feat of remaining approachable, as seen in the 2019, 2020, and now 2021 vintages—among the most ambitious in the Loire!

Les Charmes 2020 is an elegant and well-crafted wine. Grown on a clay-limestone hillside, this light yet full-bodied wine has a refined texture: it is succulent and supple, with very fine, chalky tannins. The extra year in the bottle since my last tasting has helped mellow the youthful fruit and give it greater harmony. Although the blue and red fruit notes are still distinct, the wine is a bit rounder overall, and there’s only a hint of development. It’s a wine that truly lives up to its name.

A charming nose of spiced cherries, raspberries, flint, bread spices, and a subtle hint of smoked paprika. Medium-bodied with fine tannins. Dense yet agile, with a lively core of berries and herbs and a succulent finish reminiscent of red currants. Made from organically grown grapes. Ready to drink or suitable for aging.