Chenin Blanc

This new cuvée was introduced in 2019. It is made from young vines across three parcels, all of which Damien has planted himself. They have all been pruned in the goblet fashion, which encourages small bunches to ripen: Damien is seeking an intensity of flavour. This wine has a lovely white fruit and floral character. Easy and appealing.

This Savennières has a brilliant attack. It is pithy and weighty, with plenty of energy. It grown on sandy soils over schist bedrock and the resulting wine is vinous and saline. A little oak gives structure to the palate and the finish shows ripe, concentrated fruit.

It’s the acidity that makes this a very special wine, with amazing freshness alongside a silky, precise finish. There’s loads of tension, and notes of oyster shell and ripe pears. Brilliantly complex and balanced.

For complexity, depth of flavour, and interest, it’s hard to beat this ancestral method sparkling wine from Vincent Carême. So vinous and lively, it’s delicious in youth, and fascinating with some age. It’s made by transferring the still sweet and fermenting grape juice into bottle, and then trapping the subsequent carbon dioxide as it continues to ferment to dryness in the bottle. No dosage is added, though the spent yeast cells are expelled, leaving a brilliant, crystalline sparkling wine behind. It has such a wonderful depth and complexity on the nose, with a vinous structure on the palate, and a salty zing. The creamy mousse wraps around crunchy apple fruit. Experience from tasting back vintages of this cuvée shows me this wine ages brilliantly, and will develop complex depth, and savoury precision with a few years in bottle.

This is the jewel in the crown of this domaine. It comes from a limestone (tuffeau) site overlooking the Loire which is so steep it has to be worked by horse instead of tractor. It has such a chalky note on the nose, it almost reminds me of Sancerre grown on terres blanches soils. With greengage and lime singing out, and mineral energy and tension driving it forward, this is a brilliant wine you’ll wish you bought more of.

This is everything we’ve been looking for in a dry Vouvray: precise, chiselled Chenin fruit, balanced weight, sappy freshness, and flinty finish. It comes from clay and flint soils around the domaine, and is a great showcase for the 2019 vintage. So refreshing and well-made.

This is everything we’ve been looking for in a dry Vouvray: precise, chiselled Chenin fruit, balanced weight, sappy freshness, and flinty finish. It comes from clay and flint soils around the domaine, andin 2020 has an electric energy. It’s so bright, and with a clean, precise weight and length, it’s hard to imagine a better example of the appellation for the price.

This sparkling wine is made by transferring the still sweet and fermenting grape juice into bottle, and then trapping the subsequent carbon dioxide as it continues to ferment to dryness in the bottle. No dosage is added, though the spent yeast cells are expelled, leaving a brilliant, crystalline sparkling wine behind. It has such a wonderful depth and complexity on the nose, with a vinous structure on the palate, and a salty zing. The creamy mousse wraps around crunchy apple fruit. Experience from tasting back vintages of this cuvée shows me this wine ages brilliantly, and will develop complex depth, and savoury precision with a few years in bottle. It’s one of the most exciting wines on the list this year.

This comes from various parcels of younger vines, aged around 20 years old. The name is a tongue-in-cheek nod to a dispute many years back with a neighbouring vigneron. In Savennières, the vignerons have a wicked sense of humour as well as great pride in their appellation. The grapes are picked at the beginning of harvest, and there is a pithy, salty tang to the dry, textural palate. It's the lightest weight of the Closel wines, but now with a few years of bottle age displays delicious honey and beeswax notes.

This comes from various parcels of younger vines, aged around 20 years old. The name is a tongue-in-cheek nod to a dispute many years back with a neighbouring vigneron. In Savennières, the vignerons have a wicked sense of humour as well as great pride in their appellation. The grapes are picked at the beginning of harvest, and there is a pithy, almost spicy, salty tang to the dry but juicy palate. The 2019 has a delicately floral lift, and zingy freshness. It's the lightest weight of the Closel wines, and will drink brilliantly from early on.

This is the flagship wine of the estate, offering up power, precision, and remarkable ageing ability. It shows a heady concoction of sweet blossom and candied citrus notes on the nose, with a palate of electrifying power. Vivid freshness and impressive weight culminates on the long finish. Truly outstanding.

These vines are grown on sandstone soils, and are picked around 10 days after La Jalousie, when the skins are a little thicker and beginning to turn golden brown. The wine is aged for 18 months in demi-muids, and the result is a wine that so perfectly captures the essence of Chenin Blanc. This is all crisp russet apple with just a hint of nutty complexity emerging. The palate is, whilst arresting in its freshness, also so silky in texture - a quality Evelyne says is typical of Les Caillardières. This is the dark horse of the Closel cellar: one to drink before the Clos du Papillon perhaps, but capably of giving as much enjoyment from its complex layer.

This is as good an introduction to Montlouis as you’ll find, and a top class example of great Chenin Blanc that shows well from early on. The charming nose shows crabapple blossom, followed by the tart bramley apple acidity typical of Chenin Blanc on the palate, along with a lightly phenolic grip. Rémus might be Jacky’s entry level white but its quality is not to be underestimated. It’s simply made in a style that Jacky thinks will drink well from youth, so don’t hesitate to pull the cork. Smoky, expressive, and precise in 2021.

Some of the vines in this vineyard are over 100 years old, and the wine always has a thrilling concentration and precision. In this 2021 the fruit is chiselled, nicely tart, with a delicious fresh ripeness underneath - everything you want from Chenin Blanc. This was arguably the wine that persuaded me this is the best vintage from Jacky Blot I've ever tasted.

Like La Bretonnière, this vineyard is also within Vouvray, but cannot use the AOC name since it is vinified in Montlouis. It comes from a south-facing slope, and Jacky and Jean-Philippe are careful to get the picking date right here. Too early and it loses its drama, too late and it feels overweight. In 2020 it is distinctly pithy and dry, agile and long.

Like La Bretonnière, this vineyard is also within Vouvray, but cannot use the AOC name since it is vinified in Montlouis. It comes from a south-facing slope, and Jacky and Jean-Philippe are careful to get the picking date right here. Too early and it loses its drama, too late and it feels overweight. In 2021 its as dramatic and exciting as it comes: pithy, zesty and fantastically long.

This is another of Jacky's outstanding monopole vineyards. Like Clos de Venise, it actually lies within Vouvray, but becuase it is vinified on the other side of the river, in Montlouis, it cannot use the AOC name on its label. This irritating quirk of appellation beaurocracy should not overshadow the quality found here. In 2021 the Bretonnière has astonishing length and persistence. This, combined with its perfectly weighted body gives the impression of both concentration and density as well as a light-as-air frame, make it a captivating Chenin Blanc. It brims with citrus and blossom notes on the nose, with a spicy, saline palate. One of the picks of the vintage.

Thibaud Chevré is a seriously exciting young talent in the Loire. His father spent a magnificent career working with Thierry Germain, and this wonderful vineyard - Clos de l'Ecotard - was the first parcel the father-and-son team bought. It's found right on the edge of the Saumur’s border with Anjou, and its highly active limestone and clay soil produces taut and nervous wines that reverberate with tension and energy, even in warmer years. They only use horses to plough it, but the extra hard work is worth it. The 2021 sees them realising the toil of the past decade, bringing to fruition a truly magnificent Chenin Blanc. It is so expressive, bursting with chalky, saline drive, and a flash of green pineapple freshness. A brilliant Chenin Blanc from a formidably good year for Loire whites. Exclusive to Lay & Wheeler in the UK.

Thibaud and Michel Chevré only started making this cuvée in 2017, but it was frosted so badly in 2019 none was made at all. It is a pleasure to see it bounce back in 2020. The 50 year old Chenin vines on sandy clay and limestone soils make for a beautifully floral and aromatic style of wine. It has a pretty fruit weight and long mineral finish. Very good indeed.

Thibaud Chevré is a seriously exciting young talent in the Loire. His father spent a magnificent career work with Thierry Germain, and this wonderful vineyard - Clos de l'Ecotard - was the first parcel the father-and-son team bought. It's found right on the edge of the Saumur’s border with Anjou, and its highly active limestone and clay soil produces taut and nervous wines that reverberate with tension and energy, even in warmer years. They only use horses to plough it, but the extra hard work is worth it. The 2020 is ripe but vibrant; expressive, bursting with chalky, saline drive, and a flash of zingy freshness wrapped around fleshy fruit. This is a domaine to watch.