£15.20, Tanners Wines
In summer, drunk distinctly cool, red Saumur or Saumur-Champigny is vital. In winter it's an essential punctuation point between bigger reds. In spring you need it to lead you you into warmer sunnier days and come the autumn you need it to take you gently towards the darker, colder months.
On my increasingly crowded desert island there has, therefore, to be one such red Loire and for some time to come it's going to be Château Hureau's Tuffe, a Saumur-Champigny named after the local tuffeau limestone in the organically farmed vineyards of owner Philippe Vatan and his daughter Agathe.
The exceptional 2018 vintage in the Loire Valley gave the Vatans Cabernet Franc of perfect ripeness and balance, which they've transformed (with indigenous yeasts) into a wine that glides across the palate with silky ease and wafts of black berries and raspberries, delicate orange zest and graphite freshness.
Make sure it's cool or lightly chilled and try it with new season's lamb, beef carpaccio, tuna or salmon, roast asparagus wrapped in pancetta or with Parmesan shavings, or with goat's cheeses. 13.5%
Château du Hureau 'Tuffe' Saumur-Champigny 2018, Loire, France
£15.20–£15.95, Tanners Wines, Street Wines, JN Wine
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