Mary Taylor Anjou Rouge

Winemaking in this area of the Touraine stretches back to Gallo-Roman times and proliferated during the Christian era. After the turn of the first millennium and the Viking and Barbarian Invasions, Benedictine monks largely created and maintained vineyards and thus created vine culture in such areas we know well today: Vouvray, Bourgeuil, Sancerre and Anjou, the second major city along the Loire River after Nantes. Cabernet Franc, otherwise known as 'Breton,' is dominant in the Touraine and for good reason. This unique combination of microclimate and tuffeau soil (chalk from the Paris basin), allows a Cab Franc that at its best smells of chalk, sandalwood, dried flowers, deep currant and licorice.