Loire Whites
by Anthony Lynch
2024 Menetou-Salon Blanc “Le Prieuré”
France | Loire
You might sense something familiar here, even if you’ve never tried a wine from Prieuré de Saint-Céols or had the pleasure of tasting a Menetou-Salon. That ebullient perfume of grapefruit zest, white blossoms, and fines herbes that soars up and greets your nose cheerfully…that bracing nerve and stony note that leave your palate feeling purified and refreshed…Indeed, this is Sauvignon Blanc grown on Kimmeridgian marl, a winning combination responsible for some of the Loire’s most sought-after wines. Menetou sits adjacent to Sancerre, smack dab on the same geological formation. As with our Sancerres, we don’t expect it to stay in stock for long.
2024 Muscadet Sèvre et Maine Sur Lie
France | Loire
Some might argue that light, zippy whites should be reserved for the warm months, when their thirst-quenching qualities can be best appreciated. But have you ever tried a glass of good Muscadet in the dead of winter? Sipping a white as crisp as the air outside strikes an impeccable harmony—and let us not forget which months are recommended for shucking raw oysters. Brégeon’s 2024 is textbook Muscadet, a cool breeze that cleanses the palate and offers plenty of salty brine to wash down the season’s freshest shellfish.
For the first time ever, we have a very special treat from Château d’Epiré: a limited bottling from Roche aux Moines, one of two officially recognized crus within the Savennières appellation (the other is Coulée de Serrant). This historic site yields a grandiose Chenin Blanc that captures Savennières’ greatest qualities: faintly honeyed aromas with hints of walnut and wet slate, ample body kept in line by a chiseled frame, and a bone-dry finish with all the minerality you would expect from the infinite fragments of schist scattered about the vineyard. In other words, a serious, cellar-worthy white wine made for serious white wine drinkers!