Domaine Filliatreau Saumur “Chateau Fouquet” Blanc 2023 750ml

100% Chenin Blanc. Château Fouquet is a lieu-dit in the village of Brézé 10 kilometers east of Saumur. Filliatreau acquired some abandoned Cab Franc vines here back in the 1990s and converted farming biodynamics (certified since 2018). They planted Chenin Blanc starting about 15 years ago and currently have 4.5 hectares of it on these clay-limestone soils. The bunches are hand-harvested and destemmed. Fermentation is spontaneous, with half of the juice fermenting in stainless steel and half in used barrique. The young wines are aged in those same vessels for 3-4 months and then blended. The wine always finishes dry at under 2 grams/liter of residual sugar.

• Country: France
• Region: Loire Valley
• Appellation: Anjou-Saumur
• 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.