La Folie Lucé
Certified Organic (ecocert)
Saumur-Champigny
Loïc Turquem is charming, insightful, and a bit wily–a man who manages to be both cerebral and comical at the same time. One can picture how he persuaded his family to leave Paris for Saumur in 2009, trading IT work for cellar work; no doubt he admitted then as he does now that the decision was a bit crazy, like the name of a plot he managed to inherit.
Though working with and supported by important names in Saumur-Champigny–including both Mathieu Vallee of Chateau Yvonne and the Foucault family at Clos Rougeard–Loïc has quietly but purposely built both his holdings and his reputation. Beginning with just 1 hectare of Cabernet Franc vines, over these 15+ years he has acquired just 4 more hectares, including a single hectare of old Chenin vines to his name. Working all but alone, with a little help from his sons Lucas and Cesar (thus, the name of the project), this is more than enough for him, and his affable nature belies a focus and point of view in the wines that is impossible to ignore–particularly in his long-aged “Autrement” cuvee, given years in cask to achieve its prismatic palate and aromatic class.
There are no secrets with Loïc, but there is something beautifully present, beguiling even, about his wines. No artifice, he insists, just excellent farming–organic, certified from the beginning–of many old (40+ year old) vines, and a careful attention to each of his small plots, given their diverse soil types (sands, clays, and limestones predominate) and exposures (much of them north-facing). Unstated but very clear, however, is a willingness to be patient, letting the wines express themselves slowly as they age in cement for the Encore (younger vines in sand) or in used barrels of 3-10 years of age for the two-plot old vine Autrement, whose new release is 2017. For those seeking substance and purity in Cabernet Franc, but perhaps are uninterested in hype or excess, the wines of La Folie Lucé should be of serious interest.
Wines:
● La Folie Lucé Saumur-Champigny “Encore”
● La Folie Lucé Saumur-Champigny “Autrement”
