Sauvion Vouvray 2019
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Wilfred
Wong
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Pair this medium bodied wine with medium bodied dishes. Highlight the floral and citrus notes with goat cheese or fresh fruits, or use the delicate sweetness to combat spicy dishes, especially Thai food.
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Wilfred Wong of Wine.com
COMMENTARY: The 2019 Sauvion Vouvray gives us an excellent look at Chenin Blanc. TASTING NOTES: This wine exhibits aromas and flavors of ripe melon with an accent of savory spices. Enjoy its slightly sweet finish with Thai basil roast chicken salad. Add a dab of chile oil to complement the wine's smooth finish. (Tasted: July 28, 2020, San Francisco, CA)
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Chateau du Cléray-Sauvion, located in the heart of the Nantes region, is one of the oldest estates of the Muscadet Sèvre et Maine region and serves as the home to the Sauvion family. It is also one of the few Muscadet-producing Chateaux.
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.
An important white wine appellation in the Touraine and one of the top in all of the Loire, Vouvray uniquely specializes in a wide range of styles from dry to sweet, and still to sparkling, each with its own definitive character. Vouvray is almost always 100% Chenin blanc (however up to 5% Menu Pineau is theoretically allowed but not often used).
Vouvray is also the name of a pretty little town just east of Tours on the northern bank of the Loire—its vineyards surround it to the northeast. Houses and cellars are carved out of the local tuffeau, a chalky or sandy, fine-grained limestone. Vineyards inhabit clay and gravel topsoil over tuffeau on the plateau, the best of which have a slight slope with a southerly aspect.
Chenin blanc’s high acidity and natural adaptability allow it to produce a wide range of styles with enormous success. Styles under the Vouvray name include sparkling, both Brut and Demi-Sec and still: Sec (dry) and Tendre (off-dry) as well as Demi-Sec (noticeably sweet), Moelleux (very sweet) and Liquoreaux (botrytized). Most can age about five years but the best quality versions will continue to improve over decades.