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2019 Vin de France Blanc Chenin
Grange Saint-Sauveur
Ancient Chenin Blanc vines (up to 100 years old!) in the Loire Valley’s Anjou region are responsible for this first-ever blanc by vigneron power couple Antoine and Alice Pouponneau. This is a beautifully precise, bone-dry, chiseled Chenin Blanc, with endless depth and loads of chewy dry extract on the palate. Fermented and aged in barrel and bottled unfiltered, it features a delightful kiss of oak on the long, bracing, mouth-watering finish. This is serious Chenin for Burgundy lovers, which can certainly evolve in your cellar for some years if you so wish.
—Anthony Lynch
Wine Type: | white |
Vintage: | 2019 |
Bottle Size: | 750mL |
Blend: | Chenin Blanc |
Appellation: | Vin de France |
Country: | France |
Region: | Loire |
Producer: | Grange Saint-Sauveur |
Winemaker: | Alice Gitton-Pouponneau and Antoine Pouponneau |
Vineyard: | 80-100 years old, 6.5 ha total |
Soil: | Clay, limestone |
Aging: | Élevage for 18 months on fine lees in 228-L barrels (1/3 new oak) |
Farming: | Biodynamic (practicing) |
Alcohol: | 13% |
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About The Producer
Grange Saint-Sauveur
Grange Saint-Sauveur’s wines are the first KLWM imports bearing Antoine Pouponneau’s name on their labels, but the connection with the Anjou native runs much deeper. Antoine worked as cellar manager at La Tour du Bon in Bandol from 1994 to 2006—his first job following enology studies in Dijon—then served a long tenure in Corsica as enologist at Clos Canarelli. His approach as a consultant is radically opposed to that of most enologists: a devout enthusiast of biodynamic farming and wild yeast fermentation, Antoine relies on his expertise in microbiology to create wines of character and identity via natural methods. His talents have earned him several prestigious clients over the years, as the likes of Cheval Blanc, Latour, and many others have sought his services to produce low-intervention, terroir-driven wines.
About The Region
Loire
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 Kimmeridgian 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.
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2022 Chinon Blanc
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2020 Chinon “Les Varennes du Grand Clos”
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2021 Vin de France Blanche
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2023 Menetou-Salon Blanc “Cuvée des Bénédictins”
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2022 Bourgueil Clairet “Avis de Vin Fort”
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2022 Chinon “Cuvée Terroir”
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2020 Chinon “Clos du Chêne Vert”
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2021 Chinon “La Croix Boissée”
Bernard Baudry France | Loire
2020 Saumur Blanc “L’Échelier”
Thierry Germain France | Loire
2024 Sancerre Rosé
Hippolyte Reverdy France | Loire
2020 Muscadet Sèvre et Maine Clisson “La Molette”
Domaine Michel Brégeon France | Loire
2024 Saumur Blanc “L’Insolite”
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2022 Chinon Blanc
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2020 Chinon “Les Varennes du Grand Clos”
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2021 Vin de France Blanche
Domaine Michel Brégeon France | Loire
2023 Menetou-Salon Blanc “Cuvée des Bénédictins”
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2022 Bourgueil Clairet “Avis de Vin Fort”
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Where the newsletter started

Where the newsletter started
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