Jaulin Plaisantin Le Dolmen Chinon Rosé

About Jaulin Plaisantin Le Dolmen Chinon Rosé

Jaulin Plaisantin Le Dolmen Chinon Rosé is a mineral driven and bright rosé of Cabernet Franc from the heart of Loire Valley. Pleasantly smooth, with bright strawberry and raspberry fruit.

About Domaine Jaulin Plaisantin

Domaine Jaulin-Plaisantin was born in 2011 when Sébastien Jaulin and Yves Plaisantin launched their partnership. Sébastien had been a vineyard owner in Chinon for almost two decades but was selling all of his fruit to négociants. Yves is originally from Lyon but had spent some time making wine in New Zealand and Cote Rotie with Clusel-Roch. Sébastien wine but returned to the Loire in hopes of finding something to call his own.

Sébastien’s fifteen hectares of well-situated vineyards in Chinon and openness to Yves’ vision for farming and winemaking solidified their relationship and positioned them to do really interesting work.

About Chinon

Chinon is the appellation covering wines produced around the historic town of Chinon in the central Loire Valley. This area has been producing wine for many centuries, and although wines of all three colors are made there, the focus is now very clearly on red wines. The typical, quintessential Chinon wine is tannic, leafy, berry-scented, and made from the Cabernet Franc grape variety. Small quantities of crisp white Chenin Blanc wines are also made, but white and rosé wines account for just five percent of total production in the appellation, which reaches around 11,000,000 liters per year (2.9 million US gallons).

Chinon covers 19 communes and 2,300 hectares (5,700 acres) and is located on the Vienne river (a tributary of the Loire), right at the western edge of the Touraine district and just a few miles from the easternmost vineyards of the adjacent district, Anjou. The strong focus on red wines separates Chinon and its neighbor Bourgueil from the rest of the Touraine. Because of this, the pair often get classed together with nearby Saumur (and particularly Saumur-Champigny) just across the district boundary in Anjou, being the only Loire winegrowing zones with any great emphasis on red wine.

Red Chinon wines vary in style from light-bodied and fruity (similar in many ways to good Beaujolais) to middleweight wines with well-structured tannins and complex notes of undergrowth and pencil shavings and spiced blackberries. The latter style might be compared to Franc-dominant wines from the cooler parts of Bordeaux.

Perfect for picnics by the Vienne or Loire on hot summer days, Chinon rosés are characterized by their crisp, refreshing acidity and spiced-fruit flavors. Just like the reds, they are made almost entirely from Cabernet Franc, although the appellation laws permit up to 10 percent Cabernet Sauvignon.