Price: $17.99
Sale Price: $14.97
The Delanoue brothers eschew the use of tractors on their estate, instead opting to till the soil and harvest the grapes with the help of a team of horses. It’s a labor-intensive way of making wine (“very physically strenuous,” as our importer put it), but one that prevents the soil compaction that running a heavy piece of farm equipment up and down a row multiple times would otherwise cause from negatively affecting the drainage and the microbiome of the vineyard. Theirs is a holistic approach to winemaking, heavily inspired by biodynamic thinking, one which I think shows in the quality of the wine in the glass. This is not one of your sweet or off-dry Loire Chenins; it’s fermented to dryness, but still full-bodied and lively enough to not seem austere. On the nose, it’s lightly floral with a hint of jasmine, yielding to lemon, honeydew, granny smith and apricot on the pallet. This would be a great all-round seafood wine (particularly with lobster), or with dishes featuring a creamy or cream-based sauce, perhaps chicken paprikash or beef kofta with tzatziki. Planted in 2010, these are some of the first Chenin Blanc vines planted in Bourgueil after a gap of 40 years, and it’s a quite promising start.
