Les Chiens-Chiens

In the glass

Aroma: blackcurrant, violet, wet pebble, fresh tobacco

Palate: cassis, graphite, iron, saline length

Single-vineyard Cabernet Franc from clay-flint soils above the Vienne. Sappy cassis-and-graphite fruit framed by fine-grained tannins, named for the small dog-shaped rocks that flank the parcel.

What it pairs with

• Roast leg of lamb with rosemary
  Herbal lamb meets the wine's violet-and-tobacco register; tannins frame the meat.
• Magret de canard with blackcurrant
  Cassis on the palate echoes a blackcurrant jus on duck breast.
• Sainte-Maure de Touraine
  Ash-rolled goat cheese sharpens the wine's saline mineral length.
• Mushroom and chestnut wellington
  Earthy fungi mirror the iron and forest-floor depth.

History

Jerome Billard returned to the family domaine in 2003 and bottled Les Chiens-Chiens as a single-vineyard cuvee from clay-flint parcels on the plateau. The estate became fully organic by 2013.

1. 2003: Jerome Billard takes over and bottles Les Chiens-Chiens as a single-vineyard cuvee
2. 2013: Full organic certification

Facts

Producer

Domaine de la Noblaie · visiting guide

Grapes

Cabernet Franc (100%)

Classification

Chinon AOC

Oak

16 to 18 months in 500L oak demi-muids, around 20 percent new

ABV

13.5%

Price

EUR 22 to 32 at retail

Drinking window

6 to 18 from vintage

First vintage

2003

Organic

ORGANIC CERTIFIED

Vegan

Yes (no animal-derived fining)

Frequently asked about Les Chiens-Chiens

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