La Ripaille is a west-facing lieu-dit on the Brézé hill where 1960s-planted Cabernet Franc digs into sandy loam over Turonian limestone. Brendan Stater-West, the Oregon-born expat now in the direct lineage of Clos Rougeard and Domaine Guiberteau, is only the second grower ever to bottle from this parcel. The wine is fully de-stemmed, fermented with indigenous yeast, and built by infusion (no pump-overs, no punch-downs), then aged a year on lees in barrels of three to five wines, with a finishing pass in tank. It is a serious, more structured Saumur red than his base cuvee, all limestone tension and dark florals. Imported by Becky Wasserman.