2012 Bourgueil Mi-Pente

With his glasses, beard and graying hair, Jacky Blot might look his 65 years of age in a photograph in a wine magazine, but anyone who has bounced with him in a four-wheel-drive vehicle through the vineyards would hardly think he was a day older than 21. He oozes a crazy energy in everything he does. Given their vibrancy, even his wines must notice.

After proving his mettle at the Domaine de la Taille aux Loups in Montlouis and acquiring vineyards in Vouvray, he purchased the Domaine de la Butte in Bourgueil in the summer of 2002 with the intent of doing for cabernet franc what he had already managed for chenin blanc. It is a dramatic site in the center of the appellation: a single block of 15 hectares of southerly slopes on a bed of limestone with vines 30 years old and more. Above, it is bordered by forests that protect the vineyards from northerly winds. Below lies a stunning cellar carved in rock.

Using the same farming practices that created his reputation in Montlouis, coupled with hand-harvesting, wild-yeast fermentations and minimal intervention, he has created a host of dramatic wines that have helped add new life to the reputation of the appellation. These are without any doubt among the finest Bourgueils being produced today.