Domaine de Belliviere Coteaux du Loir “Premices” 2023 750ml

100% Chenin Blanc. Certified-biodynamic Bellivière owns and farms 18 hectares across 60 parcels in 5 villages in the Jasnières and Coteaux-du-Loir appellations in this northernmost part of the Touraine. “Prémices” is a selection of the most fruit-forward, younger-vine barrels and is the first release in any given vintage. The fruit comes from vines ranging from 10-40 years old, planted on variations on flinty clay soils over tuffeau (soft limestone). Harvest is by hand. The bunches are direct-pressed into tank, where the juice settles overnight; it is moved by gravity into barrel and ferments with native yeasts and minimal sulfur. The wine goes through malo and ages in barrel for about a year. There is usually residual sugar, as fermentation is never pushed and stops short of dryness in this cool cellar and clime. The 2022 Prémices finished at a sec-tendre level of sweetness with 10 grams/liter of residual sugar (and 3.82 grams/liter of acidity). Starting in 2022, the wine is labeled as appellation Coteaux du Loir instead of Jasnières because it is now a combination of the two in order to give the winery more flexibility in difficult vintages.

• Country: France
• Region: Loire Valley
• Size: 750ml
• Color: White

Varietal

Chenin Blanc

Originating in France yet now grown in many parts of the New World, Chenin Blanc is one of the most versatile and highly regarded white wine grape varietals on earth. These green skinned grapes hold a relatively high acid content, and as such can be used for making still white wines of exceptional quality, as well as superb sparkling wines (such as the Crémant wines of the Loire Valley) and extremely aromatic dessert wines. Their natural transparency means that they are a fine grape for expressing their terroir in the bottle, and winemakers often experiment with this varietal to coax unusual and intense flavors from the grapes, such as allowing the development of noble rot on the fruit in order to make sweet and viscous wines of a unique character.