Winemaker Notes
Les Caillardières is a single vineyard terroir of schist and sandstone where the grapes are normally harvested fully ripe, quite golden, in order to attain the classic Chenin complexity which is so desirable.
Aromatics of ripe quince, citrus zest, beeswax, almond and hazelnuts lead into a medium full bodied wine with crisp acidity, a nice mineral backbone and plenty of fleshy texture. Nice tension and honeyed notes are in perfect balance.
Professional Ratings
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Wine Spectator
Equal parts honeyed orchard fruit richness and savory power, this stunning white shows real depth and energy. Ground ginger and lanolin notes join salty mineral elements, while high tones of meadow blossoms and pink peppercorn add to the complexity alongside details of almond and cardamom.
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Robert Parker's Wine Advocate
The 2021 Savennières Les Caillardières is crafted from vines planted on sandstone schist soils and matured for 12 months in barrels. It reveals an elegant, floral bouquet with aromas of pear, green apple, herbs, hay and lemon oil, followed by a medium-bodied, fine-boned and precise palate with a bright spine of acidity and a saline finish enhanced by elegant bitterness. It has a real potential to improve in the cellar.
Rating: 92+
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.