Couly-Dutheil La Coulee Automnale Chinon: A Perennial Parisian Favorite for less than $15

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  The fall harvest at Domaine Couly-Dutheil.

Arnaud Couly, the winemaker at Domaine Couly-Dutheil has assembled another fabulous cuvee! It’s all Cabernet Franc, the grape of the best red wines from the Loire Valley.

You know, the longer I drink wine, the more reds from the Loire end up in my glass. These wines have a purity about them that I love. There are no sharp edges. They are not heavy, yet they are substantial and bursting with red berry flavors. To say nothing about their affordability. No wonder it is a Parisian favorite.

La Coulee Automnale is made from a combination of hillside and table land from the western side of Chinon. The soil is gravelly. The grapes are farmed using a “bio” agricultural system, including a manual harvest (to protect the grapes and eliminate stems & leaves). The wine is aged for 10 months in stainless steel tanks. There is no use of oak barrels to mask the pure fruit flavors.

This wine will fill your mouth with red fruit flavors and please your nose with that seductive aroma that only Cabernet Franc can deliver. I associate it with the smell of wood fires as you only smell in those small beautiful villages in France, like Chinon, in the Autumn. Others say it reminds them of the days of yore when we used to jump in huge piles of fall leaves and then burn them curbside. Whatever it is, it is one satisfying glass of wine!

I like to drink this wine when it’s fresh and young – within 3 or 4 years from the harvest. I dare you to save even one bottle that long. Cynthia Hurley