Château du Petit Thouars, Chenin Blanc "Le Clos" Chinon Blanc, Loire Valley, France 2023

Petit Thouars’s white wine comes from a 0.75-hectare plot of Chenin Blanc planted in 2010 within the confines of an ancient wall immediately behind the chateau itself (hence the name of the cuvée). Situated in the southwest limit of the appellation close to Saumur-Champigny, the soils here are more suited to the production of white wine than vineyards further northeast.

Fermentations start naturally, sometimes in stainless steel tanks and sometimes in used 225-liter barrels. The wine is aged on the lees for roughly 6 months, and racked at least a few times before bottling, typically in the spring of the following year. It is always quite dry, with a generous and broad palate that nicely counters the piercing acidity of the Chenin.