Winemaker Notes
Professional Ratings
-
Robert Parker's Wine Advocate
Crafted from grapes planted on schist and aeolian sands, the 2021 Chateau de Plaisance was barrel fermented after a slow cold pressing. It reveals a delicate, precise bouquet with aromas of sage, herbs, ripe orchard fruit, lemon oil and spring flowers, followed by a moderately weighted structure, a chiseled and tense mid-palate animated by bright, structuring acids and finishing with a saline, flinty profile. Despite retaining enormous appeal, it has a real potential to improve in the cellar.
Rating: 93+
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.