Domaine du Closel Blanc “Belle-Dame” VdF 2023 750ml

100% Chenin Blanc. From certified-biodynamic estate fruit. The bunches are harvested manually and pressed directly. Fermentation is spontaneous with native yeasts in tank. The wine is aged on its lees in an underground fiberglass tank for 8 months. It finishes dry and is bottled unfiltered. The wine is named for the belle-dame or “painted lady” butterflies that migrate from North Africa and pass through the Closel vineyard. (The Belle Dame bottling originated in the devastated 2017 vintage and was made from purchased fruit–that is no longer the case.)

• 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.