Loire

TASTY ‘LITTLE’ SAUMUR FROM A TOP SOURCE

The central figure in this story is Arnaud Lambert, author of the Chateau de Brézé Cremant we sold a while back and the owner of forty hectares of vineyards of serious vineyards in the Loire. The holdings are principally within three communes: two within the Saumur-Champigny appellation (Montsoreau and Saint-Cyr, on opposite sides of the appellation—north and south, respectively) and the resurrected, historic commune, Brézé, on the southernmost border of the AOP Saumur-Champigny.

Lambert bottles nearly twenty different cuvees under Chateau de Brézé and his own eponymous label. He is highly respected in the region and has garnered some strong press for his still wines from a number of writers, particularly the reds. So when Lambert does something, we pay attention. This cuvee is new to us and a little less specific than most of his work which focuses on specific sites. That’s fine by us as the combination of Lambert’s skills, the quality of his sites and the riper 2022 vintage combine to make an engaging, complex, rather accessible window into this producer’s style.

As we have said many times, we are de facto fans of Chenin Blanc and consider it one of the world’s great whites by virtue of not only it’s quality when it is at its best, but also its versatility to perform beautifully in every expression from bone dry to exotic, botrytised dessert wines. This one is dry and fairly easy going as Chenin Blanc goes, making it a perfect ambassador for both Chenin and Lambert.

The nose on the Arnaud Lambert Saumur Blanc Les Parcelles 2022 is an inviting mixture of classic Chenin with notes of orange, peach, and quince with streaks of earth and chalky minerality. All of this comes through on the palate in a dry but fruit focused style, with a rounded, supple palate feel and without the sometimes searing acidity that can make this varietal difficult for some folks to appreciate. Because of Lambert’s approach to Chenin emphasizing the varietal purity and unique terroir of Saumur, and this wine’s relatively gentler demeanor make it a wine to win friends for the region.

The modest fare ($21.98) for this blend of a variety of properties (hence the title Les Parcelles) also make this a marvelous option for a broader range of people and more food applications. It is particularly good for lighter Asian and fish dishes as well as offering up a lovely aperitif option that, while it is an easy approach to the varietal, it is definitely not the ‘same old thing.’ Holiday ham? You bet! Classy, workhorse, versatile Chenin from an impeccable source, yeah we got that.

FUN LITTLE VALUE FINDS

As we have said, we taste constantly, without any agenda. We’re just looking for good things that fill a need and deliver value at whatever its price level is. It’s a lot harder to find things that excite us in the under $20 category for a variety of reasons. But we don’t view something as ‘good‘ simply because it isn’t ‘bad‘. . For us something needs to not only be a solid example of its genre, there has to be some interest and character to it. That is particularly difficult as you get down into lower price brackets, but it does happen. We found a couple of fun things this week that had distinctive character and represent their category well while selling for a song.

White Bordeaux isn’t the first thing on people’s minds but a good one can be quite serviceable and versatile. The Domaine de Cheval Blanc 2019 was a new label for us and kind of a surprise. Certainly, there’s an interesting story somewhere regarding the name since it is also the handle of one of Saint Emilion’s elite producers. But here it’s about the juice.

This 42 hectare estate in Entre-Deux-Mers produces both red and white Bordeaux, and the third generation owners are currently at the helm. This snappy little white is a blend of 40% Sauvignon, 40% Semillon, and 20% Muscadelle from vines averaging 23 years of age. The Semillon lends some texture and the Muscadelle some spice to the aromatics, but the Sauvignon is clearly in the driver’s seat with ripe grapefruit in the nose and flavors.

The surprise isn’t the expected clean, bright flavors, but the depth, volume, delivery for a wine of such humble origins. The fruit, personality, and unexpected charm got our attention, particularly for the fare. It’s no ordinary $10 wine in this vintage ($9.98 actually).

There isn’t much of a story to the Marcel Martin Chinon Les Bernieres 2019. It is a wing of a large negociant producer that makes several labels. We taste a lot of wines like this and you don’t hear about them. We don’t know the background here so we have to figure that the 2019 vintage had a lot to do with this wine but what a joy to drink!

There have been few vintages where the Cabernet Franc gets this ripe and plush in the Loire Valley but 2019 is one of them, reminding us of epic years like 2005, 2009, and 2010. We have had examples at every price range but something this friendly and generous at this kind of price ($11.98) was truly surprising. A little bit of pepper in the nose, a hint of refreshing green and tobacco to the finish, but the middle is stuffed with broad, engaging, supple blackberry fruit. It’s Chinon in a whole new light and scores high on the pleasure scale.

The Cave des Vignerons de Saumur has been on our radar for a long tim and was a staple at the old location. Ye ah, it’s a cooperative, but one that has the ability to produce honest and tasty examples of their terroir at surprisingly attractive prices fairly regularly. The operation dates back to 1957, and they bottle most things under the title of a particular lieu dit (named vineyard)

The Cave des Vignerons de Saumur Saumur Blanc Les Epinats 2020 is from a vineyard that is located on a plateau on gently sloping north-facing hills. The large nearby forests serve as a windbreak and have an influence on the microclimate and two types of soil ( shallow, pebbly soil called terre à silex (fl and less pebbly soil with more clay) create diverse fruit to energize the blend. It’s 100% Chenin Blanc with the nose and flavor showing lime, orange, and peach with flecks of minerality and a hint of sweetness to the finish. Textbook fresh, engaging Loire Chenin for a low price($11.98).

The Cave des Vignerons de Saumur Saumur Les Vignoles 2019 comes from a south facing vineyard looking over the Loire River. The soil here sits atop carbonate formations of Turonian limestone. It is mostly shallow, with soft limestone, resulting in a moderate, but fairly regular water supply, ideal for growing high quality Cabernet Franc. The average age of the vines are 55 years. Nature was kind to the reds in the Loire in this vintage and this one packs plenty of dark red and black fruits along with element of mineral and, again, an unexpected tender fleshiness for the genre. A steal at $14.98.

TERRES BLANCHES REVISITED

If the subject matter looks a little familiar, guilty as charged. We sent this email on Les Terres Blaches in early October. We reiterated our dismay with the natural wine movement in general, which we’ve mostly eliminated in this piece, and spent a good bit of type extolling these folks in the Anjou for making some of the cleanest, best, most exemplary natural wines we had ever come across. There was no press at the time, and the interest admittedly disappointing. Literally a couple of weeks later, Wine Advocate’s Stephan Reinhardt ‘went off’ on two of the four wines we highlighted in that piece (plus the prior vintage of the ‘pet-nat’). We intend to send it out again with the Wine Advocate notes but the holiday email schedule is crammed and these wines deserve attention. So, for the moment, here are our original comments with Reinhardt’s notes inserted.

In 2004, Celine and Benoit took over the 8.5 hectare domaine of Bernard Coutel, who was retiring and had no family members to follow in his footsteps. Certified in Organic Agriculture since 2010, the Blets also work in the cellar to the rhythm of the wines. Their wines are the expression of the particular grape variety on the specific terroir as unfettered as possible. Their mission is to produce grapes and develop natural wines while protecting their environment throughout the farm. That synergy affects everything. The estate is located in Anjou, in the Loire Valley. The grapes varieties are Chenin Blanc and Cabernet Franc. The vines are planted between 4,500 and 4,800 vines per hectare with natural grassing every other row, the other row is plowed after the harvest to bury the compost and maintained by hoeing the rest of the year. It is very methodical.

They refer to what they do as ‘peasant agriculture’, adhering to centuries old traditions that predated chemicals and machines. In their words, “To offer you hand-sewn natural wines, we strive to produce beautiful ripe grapes.” They are fanatics in the vineyards and you feel the energy and clarity of purpose in their wines. Us proffering ‘natural wines’ will be shock to many. But we aren’t pushing them because they are ‘natural’. We are talking about Terres Blanches because the wines impressed the heck out of us. These kids are on to something, and the wines are under $25.

The Celine et Benoit Blet Les Terres Blanches Les 3 Poiriers Anjou Blanc 2019 is also 100% Chenin made from a later harvest of grapes from similar (or the same?) soils. These ‘healthy, golden’ grapes were pressed into neutral barrels via gravity where they fermented slowly without SO2, and then bottled with no fining or filtration. This subtle, complex Chenin reminds us of a top-notch Vouvray sec, except for the price. Pear, peach, maybe a little orange, with well woven in, delicate minerality, sneakily complex and subtly captivating, this is a star.

From Wine Advocate, “From the second sorting of grapes picked in fully ripe and healthy condition at the end of September, the 2019 Anjou Chenin Les 3 Poiriers displays an intense yet refined and elegant bouquet of perfectly ripe Chenin Blanc grapes intermingled with very fine and refreshing, flinty, crystalline and lemony sandstone aromas. Medium to full-bodied, this is a concentrated, dense, intense and persistent Chenin with remarkable mineral tension and vitality. The wine fermented in two- to eight-year-old barrels, then was blended in July of the following year and bottled in September just before the 2020 harvest. This is an impressive, ripe, elegant and sustainable, well-structured and tensioned Chenin with excellent ripeness and concentration. A long-distance runner for sure. 14% alcohol. Tasted in June 2021…93 points.”

Like all of the others in this lineup, the Celine et Benoit Blet Les Terres Blanches Anjou Rouge Demon 2019 exudes great purity. In keeping with the theme this 100% Cabernet Franc of a particular variety referred as ‘Breton’ that was originally planted by an abbot of that name. It was harvested at optimum ripeness, destemmed, and given 5 weeks maceration then transferred to neutral (2-5 year old) barrels. Bottled unfiltered and unfined, with no SO2, this exudes ripe Franc character of dark red and blue fruit, is tender on the palate and without any green of funky notes. A gentle, engaging red that shows all the best sides of Cabernet Franc. Celine and Benoit refer to their produce as enlightened peasant wine. It seems the ‘peasants’ drink pretty well around these.

From Wine Advocate, “The 2019 Anjou Démon is from the Poulette parcels above the Hautes Bruyères and was completely destemmed before the infusion on the mash, which took one month. The bouquet is beautifully fine and elegant, with red and dark berry aromas, also cassis, along with crystalline stony notes. Smooth, refined and highly elegant on the palate, with perfectly ripe black berry fruit aromas and silky tannins, this is an intense and beautifully aromatic Cabernet Franc with outstanding finesse and balance. The tannins are marvelously refined and intermingled with the ripe and crystalline acidity, and the finish is ripe, long, sweet and balanced. A fabulous wine. Tasted in June 2021… 93+ points.”

In closing, we didn’t buy these because they were ‘natural’, but because they were really good, well priced, and quite distinctive. The fact that they were ‘natural’ had zero effect on our decision. The fact that wines this clean and expressive could be made that way was something of a revelation given our experience with the natural wine category. Clearly these kids are working hard and, in our eyes, setting an example. These aren’t wines particularly targeted for ‘natural wine’ buffs. These stylish, energetic wines are for anyone!

GET SOME CHIDAINE IN YOUR MOUTH

Although we do try to be a little cheerier than the news, it is hard to ignore the effects of the pandemic. At this moment it is hard to imagine how the restaurant business will ever be the same, and we have mused at how the wine industry will move forward after this hopefully comes to an end. In the meantime, the disruption of the restaurant trade, as we have mentioned before, has given us greater access to certain relatively scarce, high demand labels. After all, they can’t tell us they are saving for restaurants.

The point of the story is that we were able to grab enough of one of our favorite producers in sufficient quantities to actually talk about. We have professed our love for Loire Chenin Blancs on a number of occasions. While there are a number of excellent producers in the region, there are three we think are top of the heap. Francois Chidaine is one of them (Huet and Foreau are the other two if you’re wondering).

A unique success story who starting farming ogranically and biodynamically in the early 2000s as he accumulated his own properties, Chidaine has established quite a reputation for riveting wines with lots of energy. Most of his properties are located in Montlouis, the less famous village across the river from Vouvray, but the stuff he puts in the bottle can stand alongside anything.

We have a smattering of things but we’ll highlight the Francois Chidaine Montlouis Sur Loire Les Bournais 2018. When Chidaine planted this vineyard, he commented that he thought one day this would be his best plot. Sitting atop the Montlouis plateau, Les Bournais is the only parcel in Montlouis to possess the classic soil components that Vouvray is so famous for; solid limestone bedrock, covered with chalky limestone chunks and clay.

This is dry Chenin Blanc you can serve anywhere that you could serve a white Burgndy, and a few places you couldn’t (like Asian cuisine), that we are perfectly capable of waxing poetic about. But Antonio Galloni already did that for us, “The 2018 Montlouis Les Bournais is a wine of mind-blowing complexity and nuance. So deep yet also weightless and effortless, Les Bournais dazzles from the very first taste. Dried flowers, lime, mint, lemon confit and tangerine oil hover on the palate in a breathtaking Montlouis endowed with tons of translucence and sheer character. Don’t miss it…96 Points.”

We’ll briefly mention the Francois Chidaine (Vouvray) Les Argiles 2017, also fermented dry, from more clay-based soils on the Vouvray side of the river (argiles is French for clay). The fruits lean a bit more towards apple and pear with a little touch of honey and caramel on the finish, perhaps a little denser because of the clay, but always with the riveting acidity to keep everything humming along.

This isn’t like what most folks think of as Chenin Blanc but this is world class juice that deserves an audience. Chidaine’s wines are favorites around here.

(Browse all Chidaine)

LES TERRES BLANCHES: ‘NATURAL’ DONE RIGHT

We’ll start with a simple statement. We’ve been criticized in certain circles for speaking out against ‘natural wine’. It seemed a good time to clarify our message. We have nothing against ‘natural wine’ per se. It is a perfectly viable choice when done correctly. The problem for us is that most of what we taste under the ‘natural wine’ banner (and deifying how the wine is made as relevant over what is in the bottle is a whole different peeve) is not well made. Far too many have oxidative notes, microbial quirks, dull edges, and scents of old peanuts. Supporters suggest we should accept these flaws because the wines were made ‘naturally’. Our response is ‘talk to the hand’.

Natural winemaking is very difficult and takes a fair bit of talent. A lot of things can go wrong. But there are folks that do it well. Celine & Benoit Blet are among them and their Les Terres Blanches estate’s newest offerings are prime examples of what we are talking about. In 2004, Celine and Benoit took over the 8.5 hectare domaine of Bernard Coutel, who was retiring and had no family members to follow in his footsteps. Certified in Organic Agriculture since 2010, they also work in the cellar to the rhythm of the wines. The wines are the expression of a grape variety on the specific terroir and their mission is to produce grapes and develop natural wines while protecting their environment throughout the farm.

The estate is located in Anjou, in the Loire Valley. The grapes varieties are Chenin Blanc and Cabernet Franc. The vines are planted between 4,500 and 4,800 vines per hectare with natural grassing every other row, the other row is plowed after the harvest to bury the compost and maintained by hoeing the rest of the year. They refer to what they do as ‘peasant agriculture’, adhering to centuries old traditions that predated chemicals and machines. In their words, “To offer you hand-sewn natural wines, we strive to produce beautiful ripe grapes.”

The Celine et Benoit Blet Les Terres Blanches Brut Ancestral Blanc 2018 got our attention right off the bat. This is 100% Chenin Blanc hand harvested with the grapes fermented in buried cement tanks. The wine is then bottled then bottled to finish fermenting, disgorged, and then resealed without additional dosage. The soils for this bottling are raw quartz sand and marl. The slow fermentation yields a delicate, fine, not too aggressive bead and flavors of pear, peach, and a finishing kick of grapefruit. Bright, refreshing, dry, and sleek on the palate.

The Celine et Benoit Blet Les Terres Blanches Les 3 Poiriers Anjou Blanc 2018 is also 100% Chenin made from a later harvest of grapes from similar (or the same?) soils. These ‘healthy, golden’ grapes were pressed into neutral barrels via gravity where they fermented slowly without SO2, and then bottled with minimal addition. The subtle, complex Chenin reminds us of a top-notch Vouvray sec, except for the price. Pear, peach, maybe a little orange, with well woven in delicate minerality, this is a star. For reference, ‘Poiriers’ are pear trees. Two are pictured on the label along with a person doing a handstand. Clearly they are having fun.

Like all of the others in this lineup, the Celine et Benoit Blet Les Terres Blanches Anjou Rouge Demon 2018 exudes great purity. In keeping with the theme this 100% Caberenet Franc was harvested at optimum ripeness, destemmed, and given 5 weeks maceration then transferred to neutral (2-5 year old) barrels. Bottled unfiltered and unfined, with minimal SO2, this exudes ripe Franc character of dark red and blue fruit, is tender on the palate and without any green of funky notes. A gentle, engaging red, the ‘peasants’ drink pretty well around these parts it seems.

In closing, we didn’t buy these because they were ‘natural’, but because they were really good, well priced, and quite unique. Clearly these folks are working hard and, in our eyes, setting an example for the genre.

Marvelous Muscadet: Classic Oyster Wine A Cut Above

Most people who have had any extended exposure to French wine eventually run across Muscadet. The overwhelming image is of a crisp, dry,relatively serviceable wine to wash down some oysters or a chilled seafood plate popular in French bistros. That’s pretty much what we knew about it until one day our world was seriously rocked by a wine from a fellow named Pèpiére. It had more body and density than any Muscadet we had ever run across, and delivered an unforgettable palate experience. ‘Great’ Muscadet? Who knew?

The ‘old knowledge’ also reinforced the idea that Muscadet was at its absolute best when it was at its freshest. For the typical mass produced Muscadets that populate the majority of the marketplace, that is probably true. But we came in contact with some remarkable examples that were given extended lees contact that enriched the wine and gave them the structure to last a decade or more. These ‘super-Muscadets’ took the genre to unexpected heights and today’s offering is one of those that will give you a whole new perspective on the subject.

Founded in 2005 by the talented winemaking duo of Jérémie Huchet and Jérémie Mourat, Les Betes Curieuses (literally translated ‘The Curious Beasts’) is a collaboration to explore the distinct terroirs of Muscadet and showcase a more serious and age-worthy side of the region. Jérémie Mourat, from the Vendee (south of Nantes) initially met Jérémie Huchet, whose winery is located in Muscadet at Chateau Thebaud, through a shared interest in organic viticulture. Huchet was heavily influenced in his approach to farming and winemaking by Marc Olivier (of Domane Pepiere). Besides their technical skills, the partners draw on generations of experience in knowing the best sites of the region. They make four different single cru bottlings.

This is not your grandfather’s Muscadet. While Muscadet has long been recognized as one of the world’s great value wines, there is much more to the region. The cru communaux (communal crus) were initially set up in 2011 and now total 11 in number (as of 2017). These are distinct crus (think cru Beaujolais as a comparison) that were associated with unique soil types where exceptional examples of Muscadet’s grape, Melon de Bourgogne, were consistently harvested. Lower yields and longer aging sur lie (a minimum of 18 months on the lees and 2 years total elevage is required) help to ensure only the very best wines carry the cru names on them. Only 1% of all Muscadet is cru communaux!

The ‘Curious Beasts’ vinify the crus separately using the same farming and winemaking techniques for each. They focus on old, head-trained vines (most are more than 50 years old), organic farming, and minimal intervention winemaking. After fermentation the wines are aged for long periods of time in underground cement tanks on the lees. By keeping everything the same between plots, they clearly demonstrate the differences in terroir. Chateau-Thebaud is comprised of 50-year-old vines planted at a dense 7000 vines/ha on clay gravel atop granite. The grapes are hand harvested, slowly pressed and cold settled. The native yeast fermentation occurs in underground tanks with no lees stirring and the wine is aged on those lees solids for 5 years before bottling.

The result is this riveting white. The Jérémie’s Chateau Thebaud Muscadet Sevre et Maine 2010, at age eight, is remarkably vigorous, and shows no sign of tapering off. The bright flavor band hurls intense stony minerality, skin-on pear, lime, honey, orange and almond, with a changing profile every sip. High pitched yet creamy through the middle, this engages all of the palate and finishes with a snappy salinity. It gets your attention, shows invigorating complexity, and has plenty of tension and grip to keep everything nicely humming along.

Great producer, outstanding ‘cru’, exceptional vintage, this is Muscadet at its very best. This is Muscadet that can play with the ‘big boys’ from anywhere and change people’s expectations of what the region can do, even though only a handful of vignerons work at this level. If you are a fan of Chablis, northern Italian or Austrian whites, or crisp whites in particular, this will be right in your wheel house. The best part is that you can get this ‘game changer’ for under $20.

DELICIOUS ‘OLD SCHOOL’ VOUVRAY FROM GUY SAGET

As much as we love Vouvray, we are willing to admit that it is a not the easiest genre to understand. It is important to define one’s terms because the label doesn’t always dial it in for you. Dessert Vouvray is usually labeled molleux, but beyond that it gets a little fuzzy. You will see the word ‘trie’ on a label. But with Huet that is a later harvest, with multiple passes through the vineyard, and typically something on the dessert end of the spectrum. Yet Baumard also makes a wine with ‘trie’ on the label. Same multiple passes through the vineyard, and it’s killer, too, but it is bone dry.

It’s the same when there aren’t words. Some of the bottlings will say ‘demi sec’ or ‘tendre’ which indicates there’s a hint of residual sugar which we find an essential with Chenin Blanc. Many labels simply say Vouvray, which doesn’t necessarily tell you what the style of the wine is. It could be anywhere from bone dry to that demi-sec profile, which is kind of the tradition in this area. Some of them can be downright sweet. Life on the edge.

All of that being said, Saget is an old friend around here. We have sold several vintages, and a whole lot of some of them. The style of the house is definitely what could be described as ‘enlightened’ demi-sec that sits on the less sweet end of this very specific category. We are huge fans of Chenin Blanc, the grape, but firmly believe that a touch of sweetness goes a long way in helping the varietal settle into a nice groove. Chenin at its best has driving acidity and, like Riesling, a little sweetness helps temper the angry edges this varietal can have. For most of its history as we know it, Saget lives in that ‘crowd pleaser’ area stylistically and they do one heck of a job at it.

The Saget La Perriere Vouvray Marie de Beauregard 2015 is once again an engaging mouthful, with bright fruit components of peach and citrus, with honeyed notes to the finish and a snappy cut of acidity that keeps everything quivering. For its style, it is way too easy to quaff and it has pulled 91 or more from Wine Spectator in five of the last seven vintages as well as three ‘Smart Buy’ comments (under Saget La Perriere and previously under the label Guy Saget). Not bad for something that sells for under $15 but it is hard not to like this.

Not surprising, the Saget La Perriere Vouvray Marie de Beauregard 2015 was again awarded 92 points by Wine Spectator and a ‘Smart Buy’ tout with comments, “ Juicy and ripe, with inviting pear, quince and fig flavors laced with light ginger and honeysuckle notes. Shows a flash of hazelnut through the finish. On the hedonistic side, but has the freshness for balance.“ It’s one of those sneaky little finds that ‘keeps on giving.’

B. MILLET SANCERRE LE CHEMIN BLANC 2017-THE REAL DEAL

It is interesting in talking to our suppliers about the current high demand for Sancerre. Many told us they can’t keep the stuff in stock because of overwhelming on-premise demand and that a number of purveyors simply don’t bring the wines out to show as a result. This demand might also explain why we have had a tough time finding good, well-priced Sancerre. Demand has pushed up the prices, and a lot of , ahem, less compelling examples are coming to market. That is why finding on like this is noteworthy.

B. Millet, a 22 hectare estate based in Bué, is a third generation Sancerre producer run by husband and wife Betty and Franck Millet. In Sancerre, there is a mix of limestone and chalk terroirs. Bué is a top village in the region and the majority of the domaine’s white wine vineyards are located on the limestone that accentuates the minerality that Sancerre is famous for.

This is a classic, archetypal Sancerre that combines a core of bracing acidity and focused flinty minerality with aromatic citrus, grapefruit and herbal notes. The cellar regimen here is stainless steel for the Sancerre Blanc and the vineyard work is done by hand, with a rigorous green harvest during the summer. The resulting wine her has enough tenderness to the fruit to avoid being severe, but sufficient acidity to hum on the nicely on the palate.

The B. Millet Sancerre Le Chemin Blanc 2017 is the real deal, definitely strutting the clear signature of the region and yet at the same time ‘user friendly’. Given what we have seen from this heated market over the last few years, not to mention some unfortunate supply problems thanks to Mother Nature, we found the price performance here to be compelling as well.

Serious Saumur

We often make the joke that if a purveyor brings an average wine buyer three wines, he will buy one. If they bring him 10, he will buy one. We are geared a little differently. We don’t believe in token buys. If we taste 20 wines and aren’t thoroughly jazzed with any of them, we buy zero. By the same token, if someone brings in three exceptional wines, we’ll buy all three. That happened on the day we tasted the Haut Baigneux wines. The purveyor also had in tow the Yvonne Saumur Blanc 2015, which thrilled even given the stiff competition.

There has been vineyards around this chateau in Parnay since the Middle-ages and the building itself dates back to the 1500s. It was abandoned when Yvonne and Jean-François Lamunière took over here in 1997 with the intent of revitalizing the estate. Matheiu Vallee took over in 2007 and kept their name on the property as an hommage to the work the Lamunières had done. The property has been organic since 1997 and went biodynamic in 2012.

There are 3 hectares of Chenin Blanc in clay-over-tuffeau (the fine grained local limestone). Perhaps a little more intentional gravitas here, the wine is fermented slowly over four months and malolactic occurs in oak, 30% new, and it is bottled unfiltered. Oak doesn’t always play well with Chenin but it is clearly enlightened and perfectly integrated in this case. There are a few more ‘bass’ notes to the quince and yellow pit fruit flavors, with a little more Chardonnay like feel in the mouth and a salty character that is somewhat Chablis like. Serious stuff here.

Loire Young Guns

As we so often remind people, we have been doing this a long time, and our ‘wines tasted’ tally might look something like the old McDonald’s ‘burgers sold’ signs. Yet, still, there are always new things to find. In all of the time we have spent in introducing people to new wines, we don’t ever recall using the words Touraine Azay-le-Rideau in a sentence. Yet, as lovers of Chenin Blanc at its best, we have recently come to know this obscure appellation in the Loire because one of the hottest new winemakers in the region happens to be working there.

First the appellation. Located east of Samur and northeast of Chinon, Touraine Azay-le-Rideau is a small designation comprised of only 148 acres of land made up of flinty clay, clay limestone and Aeolian sand mixed with clay soils. It isn’t a place even most wine-savvy folks are familiar with. PLus, it‘s hard to get people’s attention in this part of the region if you are competing with the other main claim-to-fame beverage of the area, Grolleau Rose. But if you are good enough, you will rise above (though probably not as quickly as in a more mainstream media haunt like Napa or Bordeaux).

As for history of the region, it has apparently been producing wine since Roman times, and currently has nine producers. Domaine des Hauts Baigneux only dates back to 2013 when old friends (but not old guys) Nicolas Grosbois and Philippe Mesnier purchased 12 hectares of grapes. They immediately began farming all the vines organically, and set about on an ambitious project to reintroduce the wines of Azay-le-Rideau to a thirsty world. As you might expect with a varietal as transparent as Chenin Blanc, the fermentation is done with natural yeasts only and there is minimal intervention in the cellar including limited to no use of sulfites in bottling.

This is our first go-round with Hauts Baigneaux so we aren’t sure how much the 2015 vintage had to do with these fresh, pristine wines. As such, we aren’t ready to declare these guys the second coming of Huet or Chidaine, but the wines impressed the heck out of us.

The Hauts Baigneux Touraine Azay-le-Rideau Blanc Chenin 2015 comes from two vineyards, one in Hauts Baigneaux and one in Sache, with vines 30 to 60 years of age. The grapes were harvested by hand and fermented in demi-muids (600-liter barrels roughly 2.5 times the size of a ‘regular’ barrel, probably ‘neutral’ in this case). The wine then spent 18 months in contact with the lies in a combination of demi-muids, concrete ‘eggs’ and regular barriques.

This shows classic Chenin flavors of peach, apricot and quince, hints of honey and vanilla, with a good bit of subtle but insistent minerality underlying everything. There is a pleasing, slight waxiness to the texture approximating physical fruit, and a precise, restrained clean nip of acidity. The style here we would describe as demi-demi-sec, which hits the perfect note. Some bone dry Chenins can be bitter in the finish, and some demi-secs can be a touch sweet. This one strikes the just the right chord and the acid gives it just the right tension. This will age as well, too, only 300 cases made.

Hauts Baigneux Clos des Brancs Touraine Azay-le-Rideau 2015 comes from a single, one hectare plot in the Sache parcel, again with 30-60 year old vines surround by a wall (hence the clos thing). It is the absolute best parcel according to the domain, near the top of the hill and with a distinctly rockier profile. This wine is also done in neutral oak and concrete eggs, and the more specific terroir shows and even more insistent minerality than the Blanc Chenin with subtle whiffs of toast from the lees.

If you are a fan of great Chenin Blanc and the names we mentioned earlier, these wines are a find and they might well turn out to be the next big things with a couple more vintages under their belt.