La Craie Vouvray Chenin Blanc 2008 750ml

Chenin Blanc is one of the noblest white wine varieties planted in France, rivaling Riesling for its complexity, ageability, and depth of soul. Chenin Blanc is noted for its flexibility. When exposed to the early morning fogs of Vouvray and the Anjou and allowed to develop botrytis, it can be a lovely mix of candied apricots, spice, and wildflower honey with a firm acid backbone. When fully ripe and grown on the limestone slopes of Vouvray and Montlouis, it can be lively, packed with aromas of fresh peaches and plums, and finishing crisp and high. When grown on the schist banks of Savennières, it is often powerful, chewy, dense, and filled with minerals.

Vouvray La Craie is 100% Chenin Blanc custom cuvée from hillside parcels just outside the village of Vouvray. Produced from young vines (15- 25 years old), this bottling is almost always a light demi-sec (8-12 grams of residual sugar). A delicious introduction to Chenin Blanc! It is assembled in Vouvray, sees no wood, is bottled fresh and young, and is designed to offer the striking crispness that one expects from the Loire but with a very small amount of residual sugar for an added layer of complexity.

“La Craie” (or “chalk” in French) refers to the abundance of white, soft rock in the area known locally as “Tuffeau.” High on the hills of Vouvray, one can tour the homes of locals who live in caves dug from this soft chalk. It is found in the vineyards too, ensuring good drainage down the slopes and keeping the soil warm at night to help keep the roots from experiencing drastic temperature changes.