Domaine Vaufuget Vouvray 2018
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This wine give a sweet sensation with a dry finish on the palate. A concentration of rich flavors develops fruity aromas such as orange peel, honey and ripe quince. It also finishes with a slight honey taste. Due to the sugars in the wine, this wine can be consumed over the next 2-3 years.
This off-dry Chenin Blanc naturally matches desserts or serves as a balancing counterpart to rich, pungent cheeses also great as an aperitif or on it’s own after a meal.
The property is managed by Bernard Chereau, whose family origins date back to the eleventh century. Bernard is passionate about the location of his vines and separating individual parcels within each site. The Vouvray vineyards are situated upstream from Tours in the North of the Loire valley. Vines are planted on clay limestone and clay siliceous grounds on the chalky “Tuffeau” soil. The vines roots overhang the cellars built in the rock nearby the houses called “Troglodytes”. The ripe grapes are handpicked during October. Some of the grapes have noble rot also known as botrytis which concentrates the sugar in the grapes. The wines ferment very slowly over a month.
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.