Rare Wine!
WHITE CHINON
Chinon made from Chenin Blanc
2019 Chateau du Petit Thouars “Le Clos” Chinon Blanc...$21.99
Petit Thouars’s white wine comes from a 0.75-hectare plot of Chenin Blanc planted within the confines of an ancient wall immediately behind the chateau itself (hence the name of the cuvée). Chinon is known largely as a red-wine appellation (only a tiny fraction of its production is white wine), but the best Chenin Blanc from here can rival its more-famous cousins in Anjou for intensity and complexity. And, certainly, Petit Thouars’s Chinon Blanc makes a strong case for their limestone-dominated corner of Chinon as an outstanding white-wine terroir. Vinified and aged in used 225-liter barrels purchased from Chateau Giraud in Sauternes (formerly used for their esteemed dry wine, “Le G”), it carries 3.5 grams-per-liter of residual sugar but reads as adamantly dry on the palate. Its rich, assertive nose suggests tactile lusciousness, with classic varietal notes of honey and green apple vying for attention with an attractive musk-melon element. The palate—luscious as advertised—is broad and almost oily, yet it remains tensile and precise due to the wine’s notable acidity (malolactic fermentation did not take place). It finishes bold and clinging, with a strong impression of dry extract and a sense of underlying seriousness—quite an impressive effort, especially given the young age of the vines (they were planted in 2010).
Petit Thouars’s white wine comes from a 0.75-hectare plot of Chenin Blanc planted within the confines of an ancient wall immediately behind the chateau itself (hence the name of the cuvée). Chinon is known largely as a red-wine appellation (only a tiny fraction of its production is white wine), but the best Chenin Blanc from here can rival its more-famous cousins in Anjou for intensity and complexity. And, certainly, Petit Thouars’s Chinon Blanc makes a strong case for their limestone-dominated corner of Chinon as an outstanding white-wine terroir. Vinified and aged in used 225-liter barrels purchased from Chateau Giraud in Sauternes (formerly used for their esteemed dry wine, “Le G”), it carries 3.5 grams-per-liter of residual sugar but reads as adamantly dry on the palate. Its rich, assertive nose suggests tactile lusciousness, with classic varietal notes of honey and green apple vying for attention with an attractive musk-melon element. The palate—luscious as advertised—is broad and almost oily, yet it remains tensile and precise due to the wine’s notable acidity (malolactic fermentation did not take place). It finishes bold and clinging, with a strong impression of dry extract and a sense of underlying seriousness—quite an impressive effort, especially given the young age of the vines (they were planted in 2010).
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