2019 Wilfrid Rousse Chinon Les Puys 750 ml

The bistro is called Le Refuge du Passé. A dusty, anachronistic jewel on Rue du Fer à Moulin in Paris’s 5th arrondissement, it boasts rustic and delicious fare, a cluttered zinc bar, and yellowed walls plastered with Piaf posters. It’s the kind of place you hope to stumble upon while prowling Paris in the blue hour—and the 2019 Wilfrid Rousse Chinon Les Puys is exactly what you hope they’re pouring. 

We discovered this rich classic on our last trip to France and made short work of it alongside a piping-hot cassoulet and a heap of frites. It’s bright and vibrant yet lush, and like top examples from the Loire’s most revered red-wine appellation, has got red-fruited succulence and depth that evoke Right Bank Bordeaux while retaining Chinon’s trademark jolt of freshness. 

This hidden gem from Wilfred Rousse shows why Chinon is revered in France and beloved within the US wine industry—though it’s still slightly off the radar of the mainstream. Epitomizing the independent, dirt-under-the-nails grower, Rousse started out in 1987 with just a single hectare of vines. Over the years, he gradually grew his holdings to 19 hectares of prized, organically farmed, south-facing vines on the banks of the rolling Vienne River.

The instant Les Puys entered our glasses we knew we had to import it for our members. With its silken texture and classic aromas of red cherries, violets, and wild herbs, it walks the tightrope between complexity and effortless drinkability that has forever been Chinon’s specialty. There’s never a bad time for a bottle.