Domaine de Pallus, Chinon “Pensées de Pallus”

Traditional descriptors of Chinon do not typically contain words like “opulent” or “polished.” Chinon is mostly known for cool-climate expressions of Cabernet Franc—crunchy, sometimes leafy-green reds that are bistro staples if not exactly cellar material. But to stereotype Chinon thusly is to overlook polished gems like “Les Pensées de Pallus.” This benchmark old-vine cuvée not only has a kinship to top-tier red Burgundy—the perfume, the purity, the energy—but there’s also a stylistic nod to some of the more elegant Cabernet Franc-based reds of Bordeaux’s Right Bank.  Before his “return” to Chinon, and Cabernet Franc, in 2003, Bertrand Sourdais picked up valuable winemaking insight in some far-flung locales—especially Spain, where he made his name in Ribera del Duero at Dominio de Atauta. He also did stints with Spanish maestro Alvaro Palacios and at Château Mouton-Rothschild before turning his attention to old-vine Cabernet Franc from his family’s heirloom vineyards in Chinon. Domain