loire

2020  Chinon Blanc

100% Chenin Blanc. Raffault planted Chenin under ten years ago on the special clay-limestone terroir of the Les Picasses hills and bottled it as "Chenin de Picasses" for this first time in the 2020 vintage (note: in France the wine bears a different label and name, "L'Or d'Olga"). The farming is organic and the harvest is manual. The whole clusters are gently pressed and the must settled overnight. Fermentation takes place spontaneously with indigenous yeasts in 500-liter, second-and-third-use demi-muids and finishes dry; the wine does not go through malolactic fermentation and is aged on its fine lees for a year in the same barrels. It clarifies naturally during aging and is bottled without filtration.

2019  

"Drinking Window: 2028 - 2040 Le Château is a small plot of land enclosed in the Chêne Marchand terroir, and is situated on the top of the hill, planted on Kimmeridgian limestone. The first vintage of this wine was 2014. The bouquet on this 2019 vintage is tightly introverted, but its incredible tension and depth point to a magnificent wine. Mineral-driven aromas with spices, both white and spring flowers, orange blossom and lemon oil aromas. Long and penetrating, this wine has a deep and concentrated core, striking levels of chalky dry extract and a long, penetrating finish. Still an infant, it will be one of my favourites after 10-20 years in the cellar." - 97pts Decanter