2020-C Les Chancelieres Vouvray AOC, Loire Valley, France (750ml)
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A Monthly Wine Club Selection
Soft golden hue. Delightful aromas of poached pear, acacia blossoms, and beeswax. The palate is off dry, but with a vibrant, mouthwatering acidity. It shows flavors of perfectly ripe pineapple, quince jelly, Golden Delicious apple, and a pleasantly conspicuous, chalky minerality. This finish is long, and tapers off slowly with a touch of lemon chiffon.
Les Chancelières Vouvray is made at Alliance Loire, a co-op in the Saumur region of the Loire Valley. Alliance Loire was established in 2002 when several local wine producers decided to join forces. Over the last 20+ years, Alliance Loire has become an essential player in the Loire Valley AOC, offering a wide range of wines from all the regions along the Loire River, from Nantes on the Atlantic coast to Touraine—located 1,000 kilometers inland. Today, the group consists of nine winegrowers who have pooled their resources to produce the wines and manage their marketing and sales. By leveraging their combined talents, resources and vineyards, they are able to produce exceptionally well-crated and delicious wines at an affordable price. Leaning on the core values of solidarity, sharing, respect, creativity and teamwork as the main forces driving quality and consistency, the co-op incentivizes its growers to farm as cleanly as possible by paying more for sustainably farmed grapes and even more for grapes that are certified organic.
The Vouvray vineyards span 2,000 hectares of clay-limestone soil to the east of Tours. Here, Chenin Blanc—also known as Pineau de la Loire—enjoys ideal sun exposure on the plateau overlooking the Loire River. The Les Chancelières Vouvray was crated by winemaker Denis Meunier from 45-year-old organically farmed vines from his eponymous estate. The grapes were picked at a high degree of ripeness to retain some residual sugar ater fermentation. The grapes were sorted and immediately pressed. Ater a light settling and clarification, the must was slowly fermented at a cool temperature in stainless-steel vats. The resulting wine was aged on fine lees for 6 months before bottling, resulting in a fresh, bright and fruity off-dry Vouvray.