Le Petit Saint Vincent, Saumur-Champigny “Pélo” Cheap

Le Petit Saint Vincent, Saumur-Champigny “Pélo”

When the Loire Valley’s Clos Rougeard, long run by publicity-shy brothers Charlie and Nady Foucault, was sold to the billionaire owners of Château Montrose in 2017, the relatively obscure Saumur-Champigny appellation had a spotlight on it like it never had before. Who else could wine geeks look to for similarly ethereal, cellar-worthy Cabernet Franc at an accessible price, now that Clos Rougeard had jumped the shark? Our vote was, and still is, Dominique Joseph of Le Petit Saint Vincent.

I’ll admit that I only had my first sip of today’s wine, “Pélo,” a few vintages ago, and I suspect a lot of US consumers, if they know Joseph and his wines at all, would say the same. But while Le Petit Saint-Vincent (a Clos Rougeard neighbor, by the way) might be a relatively “new” sensation in our market, Dominique is hardly some plucky upstart: He’s got 28 vintages under his belt, and draws on a generations-deep family history of grape-growing and winemaking in Saumur-Champigny. “Pélo” happens to be Dominique’s nickname as well as the name for a cuvée designed to be friendly and energetic, but also confident and capable, like its maker. It’s an example of Loire Cabernet Franc’s move away from the green, hard-edged style of old toward something more elegant, more fruit-driven, more perfumed. It is without a doubt one of the greatest red values we’ll offer all year, and it’s only January. If you’re not already on the Le Petit Saint-Vincent bandwagon, trust me—it’s time to climb aboard!

One of the distinguishing characteristics of Saumur-Champigny—in comparison to Chinon and Bourgueil, the more famous Cabernet Franc-based appellations of the Loire—is the more dominant presence of limestone tuffeau in the soils (Chinon and Bourgueil soils are more mixed, incorporating more silt and gravel). While there are other factors in play, there’s wide agreement that this chalky tuffeau lends Saumur-Champigny reds their exceptional brightness and perfumed aromatics. These wines tend to be more delicate expressions of Cabernet Franc, with a little more emphasis on dark cherry fruit and violet/rose petal florals and a less on some of the meatier, bell-peppery characteristics of the grape. 

Dominique Joseph is the fourth generation at Le Petit Saint Vincent, working out of a stunning, multi-chambered cellar carved from the tuffeau. He was an early convert to organic farming and has been certified for many years now. Today’s wine, called “Pélo” (Dominique’s childhood nickname) is sourced from 50-year-old vines around the village of Varrains; the fruit is 100% de-stemmed and fermented in a mix of concrete vats (90%) and used French oak barriques (10%). It is later aged in 3-5-year-old barriques for about 12 months before bottling.

In the glass, the 2018 Pélo displays a deep ruby/purple moving to magenta at the rim, with aromatics that seamlessly blend the sweet and savory elements of Cab Franc: black and red cherry, black raspberry, wet roses and violets, cracked pepper, turned earth, and a woodsy, ‘forest floor’ component. It is brisk and fresh on the palate, medium-bodied and silky, finishing with more violets and roses—one of those wines that disappears so quickly you wonder if someone spilled half of it and didn’t tell anyone! There’s no mistaking it for Burgundy—there’s a meaty, smoky note and a darker, blacker fruit component—but it is exceedingly elegant all the same, gliding across the palate without any hard edges. There are myriad food options with a bright, juicy red like this—my first thought is a simple grilled skirt or hanger steak with lots of cracked black pepper and a little salsa verde on the side. A little bistro-style cooking seems like just the ticket for this elevated take on a bistro wine.