Le Ligérien, La Lanterne
Technical Information:
| Producer: | Benoît Coulon |
| The Wine: | Pinot Noir |
| Vintage: | 2025 |
| Wine of Origin: | Vin de France |
| Alcohol: | 13.0% |
| Bottles: | 672 bottles |
Ligérien: from the Latin, Liger: a native of the Loire valley. Le Ligérien represents something of a departure for our Cape Crusader.
Already noted for his Francophile tendencies, Rick could not resist the opportunity of liberating this delicious parcel of Pinot Noir planted in the heart of the Vouvray appellation. The vines were established with the intention of making bottle-fermented sparkling wine, but Benoît Coulon, who inherited the vineyard from the previous incumbent, had other ideas. Just one barrel was produced from the 2025 vintage.
The label is a work by Karl Girardet (B. 1813 Switzerland – D. 1871 Versailles), a landscape artist and illustrator, who lived and worked mostly in the Montmartre quarter of Paris. Painted in 1852, it can be seen in the Musée des Beaux Arts in Tours. The painting on is that of ‘La Lanterne’, what remains of a fortified castle which dates back to the 10th Century. Abandoned in the 16th Century and pillaged after the French Revolution, only a few sections of wall and the turret remain. Today, it is the symbolic monument of the town of Rochecorbon, one of the communes that make up the Vouvray appellation. The turret has inspired many legends: a lighthouse illuminating the Loire, or a signal tower communicating with the Pile de Cinq-Mars and the Château d’Amboise.
Two points of interest within the painting. Firstly, one can just make out the Cathedral of Tours in the background. Most of the stonework for the construction of the building came from rock mined in Rochecorbon. Secondly, look at what has just been harvested: red grapes which, according to Benoît, would most likely have been Gamay, planted in what is now an appellation dedicated exclusively to Chenin Blanc.
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