Magical Mazurique: When Roundness, Crunch and Minerality Make a Magic Threesome

Imagine a wine that tiptoes onto your palate, only to pirouette in delight—crunchy, silky, and mineral all at once. It doesn’t swagger in with tannic bravado, but rather glides gracefully, like Catherine Deneuve in “Les Parapluies de Cherbourg”. This isn’t a big-budget blockbuster of a bottle; it’s a concise chanson française that hums on the tongue, a sensory sketch of summer berries and limestone soaked in sunlight.

We’re talking about a red born from one of the more discreet but arresting plots of the Loire: a lieu-dit just south of Saumur, known as Mazurique. Here, under the hands of a vintner who believes precision deserves patience, the Cabernet Franc reaches a kind of lyrical purity. The vineyard enjoys a geological mosaic—limestone with sandy-silt topsoil—that delivers wines with lift, clarity, and a crunchy elegance that’s downright flirtatious.

Speaking of flirtation, did you know that the Loire Valley once seduced even Leonardo da Vinci? Brought to Amboise by King Francis I in 1516, the polymath spent his final years here—drawing, dreaming, and sipping the occasional glass (likely from Chinon or Saumur). One wonders what his sketchbooks might have included had he tasted this particular cuvée: notes of cherry skin, raspberry, fresh mint and that subtle herbal whisper that is the dialect of Loire Cabernet Franc.

This wine, lovingly crafted by Arnaud Lambert, is vinified with a restraint akin to literary editing—no makeup, no exaggeration, just the right words in the right place. Certified organic and cultivated according to biodynamic principles, it’s a wine that speaks clearly without shouting. Fermented in stainless steel to preserve fruit integrity and bottled young for maximum vibrancy, Mazurique isn’t trying to age into nobility. It’s already noble in transparency.

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Forget the tired trope of the “serious red” needing dust and oak to be meaningful. This one says: Come as you are. Stay cool. Let’s have fun. Think of a laid-back meal: grilled vegetables, roast chicken with thyme, a chopped liver on toasted rye, or simply a slice of fine saucisson. The freshness (serve it lightly chilled, 14–16°C) carries the pairing rather than wrestling it. The wine has just enough structure to stand tall, yet enough fluidity to mingle with anything from a porcini risotto to onion tart.

Cabernet Franc, so often a brooding fellow in Bordeaux, finds in the Loire something closer to its comic, if poetic, counterpart. Here it’s all about red fruits—framboise, griotte, sometimes even a wisp of graphite—and never the heavy hand of extraction. Ligérien by birth and intention, the wine reflects not merely its terroir, but a philosophy: clarity, freshness and drinkability above all.

Historically, the Saumur region has been shaped by its tuffeau limestones—carved into châteaux above, and cellars below. These rocks have hosted centuries of stories: monks fermenting in the gloom, royal families escaping the court’s chaos, and now, winemakers who prize finesse over flamboyance. Arnaud’s touch here is masterful. No oak—just the rhythm of nature, a strict sorting of fruit, indigenous yeasts and cool, careful fermentations. It’s not simplicity. It’s deliberate elegance.

For those already under the spell, Clos Mazurique serves as the perfect introduction. While it may be the entry-level wine from the estate, it’s no intern in a corner office. In fact, among Loire aficionados it’s considered the best crash course in Cabernet Franc you never had to take in a classroom.

Case in point: in 2022, British critic Jamie Goode called it “a vivid, crunchy, floral version of Cabernet Franc”—a sentiment echoed by sommeliers from Paris to Brooklyn, many of whom pour it by the glass for guests in search of something honest yet playful.

In a world increasingly obsessed with intensity, bigness, and collectability, how refreshing to sip a wine whose great virtue is its ability to sing, not shout. Mazurique doesn’t ask for a pedestal. Just a proper glass, a little chill, and good company.

If your travels bring you near Saumur, you might be tempted to add the domaine to your itinerary. But even if they don’t, a bottle at home can turn an ordinary evening into something almost cinematic—like a dinner scene in a Jacques Demy film: tender, a little whimsical, and over too soon.

Intrigued? One glass is rarely enough. Perhaps the next time you think of the Loire, you’ll think not just of castles and cathedrals, but of quiet reds with perfume and poise. And maybe—just maybe—you’ll keep a bottle of Mazurique cool in the fridge, waiting for the right song on the turntable and someone worth savoring it with.

About Arnaud Lambert winery

Domaine Arnaud Lambert

Domaine Arnaud Lambert deploys its 30 hectares of vines in the heart of the Anjou-Saumur wine region. The winery offers a wide range of wines…