François Chidaine Montlouis-sur-Loire 'Les Choisilles' Chenin Blanc 2023 (13.5%)

A dry single-cuvée Chenin Blanc from the Montlouis-sur-Loire appellation in the Loire Valley, named for the flint stones scattered through the vineyards. It is made from old vines aged 30 to 90 years grown on flint-and-clay over limestone parcels. The grapes are hand-harvested, whole-cluster pressed and fermented with indigenous yeasts in 600-litre French oak demi-muids, with no malolactic fermentation. The wine is aged on fine lees in neutral oak for roughly 12 to 14 months before bottling. In the glass it shows a luminous straw-yellow colour with green undertones. The nose offers yellow apple, white peach, lemon verbena, white flowers, wet stone, gunflint, honeycomb and chamomile, while the palate is dry, focused and textured with high natural acidity and a saline, flinty finish.