Chidaine - Touraine, Loire, France (2023)

François Chidaine is widely regarded as one of the world’s greatest producers of Chenin Blanc, and he is also one of the Loire Valley’s pioneers in organic and biodynamic viticulture. He farms many of the finest vineyards in Montlouis and Vouvray using principles of polyculture and no-till farming, as he believes this maintains the complex microbial life of the soil and allows his vines to best express the nuances of his different terroirs. This particular wine if from grapes on clay, flint and clay-limestone soils located in towns in the Cher valley, such as Chissay-en-Touraine and Saint-Julien-de-Chédon.

Vinification: manual harvest, direct pressing, cold settling, fermentation with native yeasts in stainless steel vats at low temperature, aging on lees until bottling.

All of the grapes are hand-harvested, and his wines ferment naturally and age in a mixture of tanks and large demi-muids.

Chidaine also farms other traditional Touraine varieties nearby with the same attention to detail. The red, white, and rosé wines from these Touraine vineyards offer extraordinary value and come highly recommended. François’ talented and experienced Daughter Alice Chidaine recently returned to the family domaine after stints with Clos Rougeard, Dagueneau, and Alheit, so there are surely even more exciting things to come!