The Domaine Arnaud Lambert Saumur-Champigny Montées des Roches 2020 is a poised, medium-bodied Cabernet Franc from Saint-Cyr-en-Bourg in the Loire Valley, with more line and length than plushness. Grown on a thin band of clay over limestone, this is Saumur-Champigny built around freshness rather than ripeness.

The aromatics lead with raspberry and blackcurrant leaf, crushed violet and a peppery, slightly graphite edge that comes forward as the wine sits in the glass. On the palate the fruit is red-toned and taut, carrying tobacco leaf, dried bay and a chalky mineral thread through the middle.

Twenty months of ageing across barrel, concrete egg and tank has given the 2020 a fine-grained, almost powdery tannin and a sense of gentle polish without softening the acidity. The wine finishes long, dry and savoury, the limestone underpinning showing as a cool, stony pull rather than any weight.

Serve it lightly chilled, around 14 to 16 degrees, with roast duck, slow-cooked lamb shoulder, mushroom risotto or a plate of charcuterie. It also handles goat's cheese and aniseed-inflected vegetable dishes better than most reds of this depth.

Arnaud Lambert suggests this cuvée will hold around eight years from vintage, so the Montées des Roches 2020 is drinking nicely now and should continue to reward through to about 2028, decanted briefly if opened young.