Paul Bizard, the new generation in charge at this historic Loire Valley property, has wasted no time in showing his youthful energy and ambition since taking over management. His very first step was to initiate an organic conversion, a monumental challenge in a place defined by a stormy oceanic climate and unforgivingly rocky soils. This latest release suggests his work is already paying off, as it stands among the most expressive young Savennières Epiré has bottled. The fleshiness on the palate reflects the Loire’s sunny 2022 summer, yet it finishes dry and chiseled as ever, with lingering notes of acacia blossom and stone.

Christine de Mianville is a Jasnières specialist who handcrafts tiny quantities of profound, textured whites in the Loire’s northernmost outpost for Chenin Blanc. She meticulously farms her single hectare of land organically with the help of her beloved donkeys, Bonnie and Icare, treating her grapes as one would treat precious grand cru fruit from France’s most prestigious sites. Her wines ferment spontaneously to full dryness, a method that makes it possible to bottle unfiltered. The cuvée Dyane captures the pristine fresh fruit Chenin displays from this silex-laden terroir, mirroring the sensation of biting into crisp slices of white peach, nectarine, and guava. Give it a moment to unwind in a carafe before indulging in this spectacular expression of dry Chenin Blanc.

Catherine and Pierre’s son, Paul, has set up shop in Vouvray, working in his own small cave about an hour upriver from the domaine’s headquarters in Bourgueil. Catherine’s family hails from here, and Paul has taken it upon himself to replant and make wine from a parcel his grandparents once farmed called Bois Guyon. While they produced a late-harvest moelleux, Paul has opted for a demi-sec style utterly unique in its combination of honeyed richness and flinty verve. This bottling is hard to resist on its own, but you might also try serving it with a simple cheese platter, salty-sweet yakitori, or buffalo chicken wings.