Francois Chidaine Montlouis Sur Loire Methode Traditionnelle Biodynamic Organic Brut Nature 2020 750ml

Chenin blanc is the most unusual grape. It has the uncanny ability to be graceful and bone dry yet taste sweet, courtesy of its characteristic honeysuckle flavors. That combination works beautifully in this sparkling chenin blanc. It’s lacy, light and floral with that gorgeous hint of honey. François Chidaine farms biodynamically and regeneratively, and he also makes excellent still chenin blancs. - Eric Asimov’s New York Times Article Dec. 21, 2023

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Chidaine’s Montlouis Brut Nature is made from old-vine, biodynamically farmed, hand-harvested fruit cropped at a very low 35 hectolitres per hectare (a figure almost unheard of in Champagne). To be specific, this zero-dosage Montlouis is 100% Chenin Blanc from the flinty (perruches) sites of Le Volagray and Les Landes, as well as the clay- and limestone-dominant (aubuis) sites of Clos Renard and Les Epinais. Chidaine picks his grapes for sparkling wine at around 11.5 to 12.5 degrees of potential alcohol (i.e. flavour-ripe) as he wants his terroir to shine through. The base wine is wild-fermented in old, 620-litre barrels.

This release offers wonderful aromas and flavours of green apple, pistachio, baking spice and white flowers. Again, the palate is engagingly vinous, with a creamy texture shot through with saline energy and spicy complexity. The finish tapers to a long, grippy, mineral-infused close—something seldom encountered in Chenin-based sparkling wines. There’s so much to love here, and what value for a world class sparkling wine!