Loire 2023 Releases

This is a warmer, south-facing site than Fumet. In 2019 there is wonderful weight from the peachy nectarine fruit and a floral lift. Just gorgeous right now, and the weight will carry it so well through a few years in the cellar.

Bertrand Minchin’s wines just keep getting better. This north-facing limestone site is cool and late ripening. In a warm year like 2020 it soars. There is such a fine acidity and outstanding length, with so much persistence on the palate. We can’t wait to see how the fruit and acidity entwine further with some bottle age.

This is packed with juicy concentration, with an impressive tension. This is terroir-driven Sauvignon Blanc, with the texture and balance to age well, though it’s probably too enticing to ignore right now. Impressive length. This is one of the smartest Sauvignons we know.

As the name suggests, this cuvée has no dosage, and so has not a drop of residual sugar. As a result, the wine expresses abundant freshness and minerality, supported by bright citrus and green fruit. The 2017 has a bright refreshing acidity and subtle richness, thanks to its oak ageing.

This cuvée has gone from strength to strength since it was first made in 2000. Ageing in oak barrels adds complexity and depth. The palate is nicely textured and vinous, and there’s a wonderful fresh bread and bruised apple character throughout. This is really impressive for the price.

This new cuvée was introduced in 2019. It is made from young vines across three parcels, all of which Damien has planted himself. They have all been pruned in the goblet fashion, which encourages small bunches to ripen: Damien is seeking an intensity of flavour. This wine has a lovely white fruit and floral character. Easy and appealing.

This Savennières has a brilliant attack. It is pithy and weighty, with plenty of energy. It grown on sandy soils over schist bedrock and the resulting wine is vinous and saline. A little oak gives structure to the palate and the finish shows ripe, concentrated fruit.

This parcel is one of Damien’s most prized sites, with rhyolite soil (he is very precise when it comes to describing the geology here), which is a “hot” soil, giving greater maturity than the schist soils across most of the appellation where tension is the signature. Having said all that, this wine does show remarkable tension, twinned with a deep and pithy persistence. It has a beautiful bitter length. The 2020 is less overtly tropical compared with previous vintages, trading more on the saline, nutty attitude of Chenin.

Silex is one of the Dagueneau signature wines, and has brought an obscure name for a type of soil - flint - into the fine wine mainstream. It is smoky, tight, and typically powerful. This is quintessential Dagueneau. It comes from various parcels around the hill of St Andelain with different exposures, making for a wholly complex, enthralling, and long-lived wine.

This comes from a similar site to the Silex parcels, but is slightly lower and north-west facing, making it fractionally cooler. This means it excels in warm vintages. It is a scintillatingly wine with outstanding length.

This is the only parcel Didier bought on the other side of the river in Sancerre, and he chose the appellation’s greatest site. It remains one of the defining wines of the Sancerre appellation to this day, expressing the profound complexity and regal power of the white Kimmeridgian marl soils of the famous slope.

This comes from a similar site to the Silex parcels, but is slightly lower and north-west facing, making it fractionally cooler. This means it excels in warm vintages. It is a scintillatingly wine with outstanding length.

Pur Sang is French for thoroughbred, and his is indeed a first rate cuvée. It comes from a 3 hectare parcel of south-facing vines grown on a mixture of limestone and flint, of which roughly two are selected for Pur Sang (the balances goes into Blanc etc...). It might be south facing, but the soils here is a cool one, and the wine has a supreme amplitude. It expands across the palate before racing to a long, taut finish. It shows huge concentration, and will only benefit from bottle age. Enticing style, with weighty precision and nervous tension.

Pur Sang is French for thoroughbred, and his is indeed a first rate cuvée. It comes from a 3 hectare parcel of south-facing vines grown on a mixture of limestone and flint, of which roughly two are selected for Pur Sang (the balances goes into Blanc etc...). It might be south facing, but the soils here is a cool one, and the wine has a supreme amplitude. It expands across the palate before racing to a long, taut finish. It shows huge concentration, and will only benefit from bottle age. Enticing style, with weighty precision and nervous tension.

Silex is one of the Dagueneau signature wines, and has brought an obscure name for a type of soil - flint - into the fine wine mainstream. It is smoky, tight, and typically powerful. This is quintessential Dagueneau. It comes from various parcels around the hill of St Andelain with different exposures, making for a wholly complex, enthralling, and long-lived wine.

Silex is one of the Dagueneau signature wines, and has brought an obscure name for a type of soil - flint - into the fine wine mainstream. It is smoky, tight, and typically powerful. This is quintessential Dagueneau. It comes from various parcels around the hill of St Andelain with different exposures, making for a wholly complex, enthralling, and long-lived wine.

This cuvée had formerly been known as Blanc Fumé. It is a blend of equal parts marl, clay, and flinty soils from across the Pouilly-Fumé appellation. It’s hardly fitting to call this Dagueneau’s ‘entry level’ wine, but it is probably their most accessible. There is ample green fruits and a superbly expressed chiselled texture.

This is the only parcel Didier bought on the other side of the river in Sancerre, and he chose the appellation’s greatest site. It remains one of the defining wines of the Sancerre appellation to this day, expressing the profound complexity and regal power of the white Kimmeridgian marl soils of the famous slope.

This comes from a similar site to the Silex parcel, but is slightly lower and north-west facing, making it fractionally cooler. This means it excels in warm vintages. It is a scintillatingly wine with outstanding length.

This comes from a similar site to the Silex parcels, but is slightly lower and north-west facing, making it fractionally cooler. This means it excels in warm vintages. It is a scintillatingly wine with outstanding length.

Pur Sang is French for thoroughbred, and his is indeed a first rate cuvée. It comes from a 3 hectare parcel of south-facing vines grown on a mixture of limestone and flint. It shows huge concentration, and will surely benefit from bottle age. Enticing style, with weighty precision and nervous tension.

Pur Sang is French for thoroughbred, and his is indeed a first rate cuvée. It comes from a 3 hectare parcel of south-facing vines grown on a mixture of limestone and flint, of which roughly two are selected for Pur Sang (the balances goes into Blanc etc...). It might be south facing, but the soils here is a cool one, and the wine has a supreme amplitude. It expands across the palate before racing to a long, taut finish. It shows huge concentration, and will only benefit from bottle age. Enticing style, with weighty precision and nervous tension.

This is made from the rare and enigmatic Fié Gris grape - the local name for Sauvignon Gris, an ancestor of Sauvignon Blanc. It was almost forgotten to history, with only a handful of growers keeping the tradition alive. In spite of its being made from this rare variety, it is now the only wine in the Dageauneau cellar to carry the Pouilly Fumé appellation.

Silex is one of the Dagueneau signature wines, and has brought an obscure name for a type of soil - flint - into the fine wine mainstream. It is smoky, tight, and typically powerful. This is quintessential Dagueneau. It comes from various parcels around the hill of St Andelain with different exposures, making for a wholly complex, enthralling, and long-lived wine.

This cuvée had formerly been known as Blanc Fumé. It is a blend of equal parts marl, clay, and flinty soils from across the Pouilly-Fumé appellation. It’s hardly fitting to call this Dagueneau’s ‘entry level’ wine, but it is probably their most accessible. There is ample green fruits and a superbly expressed chiselled texture.

This special wine is a unique bottling to commemorate the 10 years since the great Didier Dagueneau passed away. It is a selection of the oldest Silex parcels, and offers a few lucky followers of the estate the chance to own something truly rare.

This parcel is quintessential Chinon: at the top of the hill overlooking the Loire river, its flood plains, and the charming eponymous town. It is named after the huge and statuesque oak tree that grows at its edge. Its excellent position affords it good ripening and drainage. The soil here is clay and sandstone, and produces a wine with a pretty red fruit structure, and some distinctively spicy notes. In 2020 its ripeness and freshness chime in harmony. The wine has a lighter frame than that of the Varenne and Dioterie, and a long, elegant finish.

This is unquestionably the flagship wine of the Joguet estate. The vineyard lies right next to the domaine and was the first single vineyard that Charles Joguet championed. Its north-east facing slope and old vines planted on clay-limestone soils produce a wine with outstanding energy, spice, and density. It is profoundly deep but with no heaviness. There is such a sweet intensity to the Cabernet Franc fruit, and a mouthwatering salinity ensuring excellent ageing potential.

This is the domaine’s ‘newest’ parcel, bought in 1976. Located near the cellar, in the south of the Chinon appellation, this is like a mini Clos de la Dioterie, on deep clay-limestone soils with colluvial topsoil. It typically shows great balance between tannins and acidity, so smooth and composed in 2020. It glides to an effortlessly elegant and long finish.

Stéphane Riffault grows in stature with every vintage, and is now unquestionably one of the most exciting producers in the appellation. His 2021s are thrilling wines. Chailloux is the local Sancerrois name for flint (more commonly known as silex), and this parcel is tucked up in the north-east of the appellation where this soil type predominates. It has a northwest aspect and is shaded by a large forest. Flinty sites are often a little warmer, but this one keeps cool, and produces profound acidity. The 2021 is extremely powerful, with exceptional acidity and length. Chapeau.

Staggering attention to detail is paid by Stéphane Riffault in both the vineyard and cellar. He is unquestionably making some of the most exciting wines in the appellation. They stand out for their tightly coiled, supercharged concentration. This is Sauvignon Blanc as you've never known it before: powerful, with a filigree, piercing, precise freshness. It reminds me of the best 2014s, Chablis-eqsue in stature. It comes from a parcel grown on Kimmeridgian marl, known locally as terres blanches, which produces wines full of flavour and texture. The 2021 is a tour de force, and appropriately marks the domaine's first year with full biodynamic certification.

This parcel is just behind Denis Jamain’s house, and is full of Kimmeridgian limestone soil. It makes a wine with such fresh, fragrant aromas of citrus fruits and oyster brine, with a lightly fruity palate. This is the best example we know from the appellation, and delivers a lovely silky length.

This Pinot is all vinified and aged in stainless steel tank. This method helps capture the variety’s purest fruit, which in this case is ripe raspberries and redcurrants, with a charming minty lift. There’s a subtle graphite note running through the palate. Persistent and delicately light-boded at the same time. Served a little chilled this will be a thirst-quenching delight.

2021 was a tricky year to get Pinot right in Sancerre. So instead of ploughing on as usual, Luc took the brave decision to make a wine that sits at the stylistic antipathy of his natural proclivity for full-bodied, structured Pinot. He handled the 2021 fruit with a light touch, using 100% whole bunch, and a short maceration with a light pressing. The resulting wine is light, bright, refreshing and wonderfully drinkable - what the French call 'digeste'. It has the prettiest accent of that noble vegetal lift you get in the best Loire reds. It will make a great aperitif red, excellent if served a little cooled.

This is bursting with bergamot freshness. As always, Luc says it showed the best balance between acidity and pH in the cellar, meaning the wine tastes vibrant and fresh without being overly bracing and acidic. Pieuchaud is a flinty-soiled lieu-dit in the commune of Thauvenay in the south-east of the Sancerre appellation. Luc decided to isolate this vineyard after noting it always produced fruit with great maturity whilst maintaining that high acidity - the secret to single vineyard wines in his opinion. It is saline and savoury, making it an excellent food wine with plenty of ageing potential.

Every so often a vintage comes along that hits the sweetest pitch; it doesn't matter what level you're buying at - every wine hits the most harmonious note. 2014 was like that in Sancerre, and 2021 is too. From Luc Prieur’s Sancerre Blanc up to his Monts Damnés, this is an electric set of wines. We've loved his Sancerre Blanc for years, and where it has always offered balance, purity and complexity, the 2021 goes one step further. It comes from parcels dotted around the village of Verdigny and is a blend of the three major soil types found in the region: caillottes, silex and terres blanches. The 2021 is tiny in volume (the frost bit hard here) but has the sophistication and vibrant energy of the wonderful 2014 vintage, with prickly notes of freshly strimmed nettles and jasmine spice. It's a wine to tuck away if you can resist. This is an exceptionally terroir-driven Sancerre from one of the finest young talents in the region.

This is quite rightly Sancerre’s most celebrated site. It's a dramatic slope of Kimmeridgian terres blanches in Chavignol that wraps around the hillside and dips down into the commune of Verdigny, where Luc’s parcel lies. It is truly magnificent in 2021, though sadly reduced to just one third of a normal sized crop due to frost. There won't be much of this on the market. What a shame, because the balance of power, racy acidity, and fruit length in this wine are simply captivating. It is so deep and layered; it's one of the best we've tasted from Luc. As ever, don't be afraid to cellar this, it will only improve.

For complexity, depth of flavour, and interest, it’s hard to beat this ancestral method sparkling wine from Vincent Carême. SO vinous and lively, it’s delicious in youth, and fascinating with some age. It’s made by transferring the still sweet and fermenting grape juice into bottle, and then trapping the subsequent carbon dioxide as it continues to ferment to dryness in the bottle. No dosage is added, though the spent yeast cells are expelled, leaving a brilliant, crystalline sparkling wine behind. It has such a wonderful depth and complexity on the nose, with a vinous structure on the palate, and a salty zing. The creamy mousse wraps around crunchy apple fruit. Experience from tasting back vintages of this cuvée shows me this wine ages brilliantly, and will develop complex depth, and savoury precision with a few years in bottle.

This is the jewel in the crown of this domaine. It comes from a limestone (tuffeau) site overlooking the Loire which is so steep it has to be worked by horse instead of tractor. It has such a chalky note on the nose, it almost reminds me of Sancerre grown on terres blanches soils. With greengage and lime singing out, and mineral energy and tension driving it forward, this is a brilliant wine you’ll wish you bought more of.

This is everything we’ve been looking for in a dry Vouvray: precise, chiselled Chenin fruit, balanced weight, sappy freshness, and flinty finish. It comes from clay and flint soils around the domaine, andin 2020 has an electric energy. It’s so bright, and with a clean, precise weight and length, it’s hard to imagine a better example of the appellation for the price.

This is such a juicy, inviting delight. It has wonderfully primary floral notes, and Cabernet Franc’s structured freshness. Zappy and delicious, and brilliant if served a little chilled.

This Cabernet Franc rosé is such a pretty delicate pink. It comes from the domaine’s young vines, which yield a fruity and open wine. The 2021 is the best vintage we’ve tried so far, with a delicious citrus fruit energy accompanying the sweet red berry fruits on the nose. A simple summer delight.

Pierre de Tuf is Jérôme's stand-out cuvée. It's made from a blend of two parcels of Cabernet Franc, both planted in the 1940s. He uses an incredible fifteenth-century tuffeau cuve, hewn into the wall of the old cellar, to do a long, slow fermentation. This method brings out the delicious complexity in this old vine Cabernet Franc. 2020 is the first vintage that this wine sees 24 months ageing before bottling (previous vintages had seen 18 months). This allows the wine time to knit together, so that it feels composed, powerful, and elegant once in bottle. The tannins of 2020 are still fairly forthright, but with the succulent ripeness of black fruit behind them, the wine shows impressive balance. There's a whisper of smoke and violets on the nose, and a deep fruit core on the palate promising great ageing potential. It remains outstanding value for money.

This has got to be one of the best value sweet wines on the market. It is bottled in 50cl exclusively for Lay & Wheeler - the perfect size, we feel. It's made from 100% Chenin Blanc in the Loire Valley, and its balance of sweetness and freshness absolutely hits the spot. It is a beautiful pale golden colour, with aromas of Seville orange marmalade and acacia honey. The palate is fresh and vibrant giving it a refreshing, long finish. There is so much going on here.

Although the Loire is a region that has not embraced the cru system, it makes an exception when it comes to the magnificent sweet wines around the tributary of the Layon, near Angers. Quarts de Chaume is made from Chenin Blanc, and offers up a complex symphony of Seville orange bitterness with sweet candied citrus peel depth. The wine is intensely perfumed with honey, flowers, quince and apricot. It shows outstanding acidity which cuts through the concentrated sweetness. 2021 was a challenging year in the vineyards, and only the most dedicated we able to achieve noble sweet wines. This example from Domaine des Forges was only produced in tiny quantities and is available exclusively in 50cl bottles.

This beautiful property was bought by Jérôme in 2007. He says that, as well as a perfect place to grow vines, it’s also the ultimate picnic spot, where the family like to shuck oysters with a bottle of the château’s delicious wine. Precise and refreshing, with a citrus, floral nose. The sur lie ageing gives it a fine texture and a lively freshness which are so well expressed in this light-bodied, paradigm Muscadet.

Grown on schist and galet roulé soils between the Lac de Grandlieu and the Atlantic Ocean, where the thin topsoil produces a very fine example. It has a touch of tropical fruit along with the salty, leesy freshness, and a creamy texture on the palate. Excellent value.

This wine is made from the rare and exciting Romorantin grape. It has a fragrant nose of lilies, toffee apple, blossom, and notes of iodine. This has the variety’s typically racy acidity, razor-sharp and refreshing, with a sour-lemon tang. Piquant, lightly floral, with the drive of green Granny Smith apple on the palate.