Winemaker Notes
100% Chenin Blanc
Professional Ratings
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Vinous
The 2022 Anjou Blanc La Grande Pièce has a sense of presence and creaminess, but it’s held together by mouthwatering acidity, phenolic tension and good bitterness. Rich and ripe, this half amphora/half barrel-fermented wine has notes of flint, salt and even smoky bacon. Its structure needs time to relax.
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Wine Spectator
Rich, round and delicious, with its firm, well-built structure framing a well of nectarine, chopped apple and warm spices. Honey and salted, toasted brioche notes add plush dimension and are cut by tangy acidity on the defined, juicy finish.
Unquestionably one of the most diverse grape varieties, Chenin Blanc can do it all. It shines in every style from bone dry to unctuously sweet, oaked or unoaked, still or sparkling and even as the base for fortified wines and spirits. Perhaps Chenin Blanc’s greatest asset is its ever-present acidity, maintained even under warm growing conditions. Somm Secret—Landing in South Africa in the mid 1800s, today the country has double the acreage of Chenin Blanc planted compared to France. There is also a new wave of dedicated producers committed to restoring old Chenin vines.
Known for its delightful whites and sparkling Pétillant and Mousseux, made predominantly of Chenin blanc, Anjou has a temperate and dry maritime climate. The region's limited temperature variations are admiringly referred to locally as the “douceur angevine,” or “Anjou sweetness.” Fruit forward rosé and red wines from Cabernet Franc and Gamay merit Anjou its success within the Loire subregions.