2015 Puligny-Montrachet “Les Chalumaux”Comtesse de Chérisey
France | Burgundy
$120
Producers
When Éric Chevalier welcomes us with a broad smile at our first stop, you can practically smell the Atlantic Ocean in the air. Éric pops open a bottle of La Noë. The first glass is perfect with oysters—it is streamlined, saline, and full of lemon. Shortly after, the granite terroir kicks in, the wine becomes more full bodied, and chamomile and apricot notes lead to a rich finish—perfect to accompany local fish dishes.
—Julia Issleib
Wine Type: | white |
Vintage: | 2018 |
Bottle Size: | 750mL |
Blend: | Melon de Bourgogne |
Appellation: | Muscadet Côtes de Grand Lieu |
Country: | France |
Region: | Loire |
Producer: | Éric Chevalier |
Winemaker: | Éric Chevalier |
Vineyard: | 20 - 60 year, 4 ha |
Soil: | Granite |
Aging: | Wine stays in foudre for fermentation and élevage, then raised 10-12 months depending on the vintage |
Farming: | Lutte Raisonnée |
Alcohol: | 11.5% |
Éric Chevalier France | Loire | Vin de Pays du Val de Loire
Éric Chevalier France | Loire | Muscadet Côtes de Grand Lieu
Éric Chevalier France | Loire | Vin de Pays du Val de Loire
Thierry Germain France | Loire | Saumur-Champigny
Catherine & Pierre Breton France | Loire | Vouvray
Catherine & Pierre Breton France | Loire | Val de Loire
Éric Chevalier is a rising star in the Nantais of the Loire Valley. For ten years, he sourced fruit for a large négociant in the Touraine. In 2005, he returned to his hometown of Saint-Philbert de Grandlieu and ended up taking over the family domaine, Domaine de l’Aujardière. His father, a talented vigneron well-known as a high-quality source of bulk wine, had stopped working the vineyards and the vines were going to have to be pulled up and replanted or sold. Éric was anything but enthusiastic. Little by little his passion grew, and today he is proud to be the 4th generation to farm the domaine. Éric sustainably farms 25 hectares of vines, producing wines of great character and finesse. He found his future in his family’s past.
The defining feature of the Loire Valley, not surprisingly, is the Loire River. As the longest river in France, spanning more than 600 miles, this river connects seemingly disparate wine regions. Why else would Sancerre, with its Kimmeridgian limestone terroir be connected to Muscadet, an appellation that is 250 miles away?
Secondary in relevance to the historical, climatic, environmental, and cultural importance of the river are the wines and châteaux of the Jardin de la France. The kings and nobility of France built many hundreds of châteaux in the Loire but wine preceded the arrival of the noblesse and has since out-lived them as well.
Diversity abounds in the Loire. The aforementioned Kimmderidgian limestone of Sancerre is also found in Chablis. Chinon, Bourgueil, and Saumur boast the presence of tuffeau, a type of limestone unique to the Loire that has a yellowish tinge and a chalky texture. Savennières has schist, while Muscadet has volcanic, granite, and serpentinite based soils. In addition to geologic diversity, many, grape varieties are grown there too: Cabernet Franc, Chenin Blanc, Sauvignon Blanc, and Melon de Bourgogne are most prevalent, but (to name a few) Pinot Gris, Grolleau, Pinot Noir, Pineau d’Aunis, and Folle Blanche are also planted. These myriad of viticultural influences leads to the high quality production of every type of wine: red, white, rosé, sparkling, and dessert.
Like the Rhône and Provence, some of Kermit’s first imports came from the Loire, most notably the wines of Charles Joguet and Château d’Epiré—two producers who are featured in Kermit’s book Adventures on the Wine Route and with whom we still work today.
Thierry Germain France | Loire | Saumur-Champigny
Catherine & Pierre Breton France | Loire | Bourgueil
Charles Joguet France | Loire | Chinon
Champalou France | Loire | Vouvray
Champalou France | Loire | Vouvray
Charles Joguet France | Loire | Chinon
Daniel Chotard France | Loire | Sancerre
Thierry Germain France | Loire | Saumur
Every three or four months I would send my clients a cheaply made list of my inventory, but it began to dawn on me that business did not pick up afterwards. It occurred to me that my clientele might not know what Château Grillet is, either. One month in 1974 I had an especially esoteric collection of wines arriving, so I decided to put a short explanation about each wine into my price list, to try and let my clients know what to expect when they uncorked a bottle. The day after I mailed that brochure, people showed up at the shop, and that is how these little propaganda pieces for fine wine were born.—Kermit Lynch
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