Winemaker Notes
Unparalleled in intensity and complexity, the energy of the property is bottled in this iconic and limited offering that will develop for years to come.
Professional Ratings
-
Wine & Spirits
Nicolas Joly left a banking career to take over his family’s monopole in 1977, converting the whole production to biodynamics during the early ’80s. Today, he works with his daughter, Virginie. With a meaty boudin blanc funk, this wine took a bit of time to shake off some youthful rasp. Despite that grit, its finish feels together on day one, but it took five days to fully show its range of honeyed flavors with almond-skin savor. It lasts and lasts on a snap of lemon verbena flavor with malic grip. All three of Joly’s wines showed an alcoholic edge at room temperature, but this wine feels the best-integrated, adding a mouthwatering aspect to the finish, ready for grilled branzino now, or in twenty years.
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.