Tete Rouge, Saumur, Bagatelle
Tete Rouge · Loire › Saumur › France
Critics Average score from professional wine critics and publications.
88
/100
Reviews
31
professional
Vintages
No vintages
NV
Community Reviews
2929
Reviews
87.8
Avg Score
91
Highest
Taster #7811
· Feb 19, 2026
After 30 minute decant, it was quite pleasant. Not too green, we'll balanced. Improved over the next 60.
2005 vintage
Taster #3391
· Dec 31, 2025
At price point OK but nothing stellar. Appearance- medium/mediium plus. Ruby. A little cloudy over clear. Nose - clean, youthful, fruit and earthy funk. Stewed black fruit. Prunes. Dark black cherry. Fruit is ripe and fresh. Italian spices. Palate - I think my review may be clouded by a bad pairing. The wine is medium bodied. Balanced. Dry. Acidity is medium. A lighter more modern cab franc vs the usuals. Tannins are medium minus. ABV is medium and integrated. More …
2022 vintage
Taster #0440
· Jul 20, 2022
Chalky
Taster #5337
· Apr 3, 2013
87/100
Yet another I thought I was going to dislike and found myself liking it enough to drink and not pour out. I suspect earlier on I had a some bottles of these last 3 postings that were unpleasant as I haven't felt moved to one one in years. Pleasant. Simple. Serviceable.
2005 vintage
Taster #5811
· Feb 10, 2012
Intense and rather primary nose of cassis and cherries with slight floral and leafy hints. Medium bodied, juicy and refreshing palate with good tannic grip. Leafy vegetality, gunpowder, green peppercorn and some florality. Lengthy. Fun interplay between the abundant dark berry fruit and the more structured savoury elements. Nice juice!
2010 vintage
Taster #0550
· Nov 22, 2011
85/100
a big rustic brambly wine, like zinfandel from the loire. no offensive heat but other than that this is more for dry creek lovers than loireheads
2005 vintage
Taster #0408
· Nov 6, 2011
Minty and herby, restrained fruit with a savory palate. Pretty rich and concentrated, but showing a gravelly minerality to highlight the dark fruit. Very nice overall--reminiscent of my favorite Loire Cabernet francs.
2005 vintage
Taster #5433
· Mar 1, 2011
90/100
Superb, mineralloy, earth, cab franc, green, grassy streak adds complexity
2005 vintage
Taster #0212
· Oct 17, 2010
86/100
Herbaceous. Pleasant with food. Not very enjoyable on its own.
2005 vintage
Taster #0550
· Jul 30, 2010
87/100
rustic. deep nose, thick with sediment and robust tannins, rich but not cloying. after several days in the fridge it settled down a lot. i'd give this at least 2-3 more years n the cellar.
2005 vintage
Taster #9091
· May 23, 2010
88/100
Kind of odd experience. Initially this tasted weird. Then, with food (steak, arugula,potatoes) it was quite enjoyable. Now much richer than before, cherry and a hint of pleasant green pepper. Once the food was gone, however, so was the pleasure. Had a very unpleasant finish,metallic, fishy, who knows. Seems to have plenty of time left.
2005 vintage
Taster #9091
· May 23, 2010
Corked
2005 vintage
Taster #2779
· Apr 18, 2010
88/100
dark, heavier and thicker than expected - nice slightly green notes on the nose, currant and dark plum - gritty, juicy palate with loads of dark fruits - plum and dark cherry. Very savoury, even though its quite concentrated, its not 'sweet'. Excellent food wine.
2005 vintage
Taster #8137
· Mar 7, 2010
Herbaceous with a strong taste of green bean. There is an earthiness to the nose that is interesting, but not much else exciting here.
2005 vintage
Taster #4512
· Aug 25, 2009
89/100
Loved this wine
2005 vintage
Taster #4523
· Aug 14, 2009
88/100
A bit herbal but nice and light with good acidity.
2005 vintage
Taster #9091
· Jul 24, 2009
89/100
We chilled this a bit as it was a hot summer night. Nose is a bit funky in a good way. Hint of green pepper and rubber tire. Sounds weird but really it was good. Flavors are a bit restrained possibly as a result of the chill but predominantly a dusty cherry. Again pleasant and enjoyable. Also, this is beginning to come around. It is richer and more full flavored than I recall from last time.
2005 vintage
Taster #4237
· Jun 3, 2009
Popped and poured, which may have been a mistake. Heavy on the burnt rubber, light on the cherries and rose petals on the nose. Not a whole lot on the attack or midpalate. Tart finish with drying tannins. All I can say is hold on to these if you have any.
2005 vintage
Taster #6326
· May 10, 2009
85/100
Meh - not much going on here - very light bodied, drinkable and not flawed but lacking fruit and intensity. Maybe this is shutting down?
2005 vintage
Taster #0138
· Jan 13, 2009
88/100
Drank this over several days. Shows typically intense 2005 ripeness and concentration, but I think time will tame the ripeness a bit. This bottle went up and down, eventually settling into an attractively masculine dark-fruited groove, with a concentration and gritty minerality not unlike Baudry's lower-tiered Chinons from this vintage. A very nice Saumur and excellent value at $13ish. Recommend hold.
2005 vintage
Taster #9091
· Dec 19, 2008
90/100
Almost rated this higher based on the enjoyment it provided. Cloudy but I love cloudy sedementary wines. Nose of cherries, coffee, and maybe burned rubber but in a good way. Taste similar. When we previously had this the acidity was not subtle. Here it was well integrated into the wine. There was a bit of a metallic taste at first but it moderated after a short decant. There is nothing blockbuster about this wine but it was plenty enjoyable to …
2005 vintage
Taster #9141
· Nov 15, 2008
CORKED!!!
2005 vintage
Taster #6392
· Oct 26, 2008
Decline to rate at this time as I am guessing this wine is shut down right now. Will not open another one for a year. The coffee and tea notes are there and are very interesting. I did not some tart berries but this wine is not integrated well right now.
2005 vintage
Taster #1337
· Oct 12, 2008
After waking up from an initially dumb state, this shows good complex greenery on the nose. But it lets down somewhat as it enters the mouth, hindered by an excessively soft palate presence. Not bad by any means, but a plainly modest wine to be sure. Still, this would be worth drinking while waiting for the more impressively built '05 Loires to mature.
2005 vintage
Taster #1404
· Aug 13, 2008
Liked this better this time. Slightly sweet berry fruit, mixed with a black tea component, with discreet acidity and tannins holding everything up in the background. Nothing sublime, but a very enjoyable wine for the price.
2005 vintage
Taster #1404
· May 26, 2008
Sweet berry fruit on the nose. Similar sweet berry fruit with pronounced coffee notes, and some vegetal and medicinal flavors in the background. Decent acidity and very muted tannins. Overall, nothing objectionable, but nothing special either. For my taste, I'd go with Hureau or Filliatreau for 2005 Saumur Cab Franc in this price range.
2005 vintage
Taster #5442
· May 10, 2008
86/100
subsequent tastings have shown that the sawdust/new raw wood smell/taste is just about enough to distract from the rest of the wine and turn me off. I'm definitely waiting for a while on the rest, hopefully this will blow off.
2005 vintage
Taster #5442
· Apr 12, 2008
91/100
A rather quiet LCF compared to some other 05's (Gaillard comes to mind, which is more like a big Chateaunuef in this vintage). Not as weighty as expected, which turned out to be a nice surprise. Decanted for an hour before the first glass; started off all fruit but slowly extended to a deeper palate. By the end of the bottle, all the typical LCF depth was apparent, with no discernible flaws. There's tons of ripe red fruit on the …
2005 vintage
Taster #8529
· Apr 11, 2008
88/100
Decanted one hour - drank over 3 hours. Aroma’s of earth, spice, bright yet dark fruits, big league chew bubble gum, raspberry, sweet tobacco. On the palate the wine is light in style with soft dark fruits, minerals and with good acidity. Tannins are present, but neither rough nor smooth, sort of in between. The finish is 30 seconds or more with dark raspberry and sour cherry notes and a flavor that reminds me of dried candle wax. The wine …
2005 vintage