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.

This comes from various parcels of younger vines, aged around 20 years old. The name is a tongue-in-cheek nod to a dispute many years back with a neighbouring vigneron. In Savennières, the vignerons have a wicked sense of humour as well as great pride in their appellation. The grapes are picked at the beginning of harvest, and there is a pithy, almost spicy, salty tang to the dry but juicy palate. It's the lightest weight of the Closel wines, and will drink brilliantly from early on.

This is the flagship wine of the estate, offering up power, precision, and remarkable ageing ability. It shows a heady concoction of sweet blossom and candied citrus notes on the nose, with a palate of electrifying power. Vivid freshness and impressive weight culminates on the long finish. Truly outstanding.

These vines are grown on sandstone soils, and are picked around 10 days after La Jalousie, when the skins are a little thicker and beginning to turn golden brown. The wine is aged for 18 months in demi-muids, and the result is a wine that so perfectly captures the essence of Chenin Blanc. This is all crisp russet apple with just a hint of nutty complexity emerging. The palate is, whilst arresting in its freshness, also so silky in texture - a quality Evelyne says is typical of Les Caillardières. This is the dark horse of the Closel cellar: one to drink before the Clos du Papillon perhaps, but capably of giving as much enjoyment from its complex layer.

This is a blend of four parcels, with a high proportion of fruit from vines older than 50 years. It is smooth and fruity. Its brightness is piqued with a fine line of pithy bitterness. This is a great example of the appellation; so refreshing and quenching.

This was yet again our top pick from the domaine’s four single vineyard wines. It comes from old vines planted on sandy gravel soils. It is always the first site to be picked, and in 2020 it captures the vibrant acidity and freshness of the vintage. The nose has subtle melon and green apple fruit, whilst the palate has beautiful energy, with crisp weight. A very complete and composed example of Quincy.

Another terres blanches site, this is in the small hamlet of Amigny, and is considered by many as the defining wine of the Cotat collection. It often needs the longest time in the cellar, too. With time it will reveal a level of volume and density uncommon in Sauvignon Blanc, taking the variety far beyond its usual earthly bounds.

This is the defining site of Sancerre, and akin to a grand cru in the appellation. It is the steep slope that runs the length of the Chavignol village and its south-facing aspect and terres blanches soils produce the appellation’s most powerful and long-lived wines. François’s wine perfectly captures the power and finesse of this great site, with statuesque poise.

For many, François Cotat is the defining name of Sancerre. Even fine wine afficionado who claim not to like Sauvignon Blanc love his wines. Caillottes is his most accessible and up front wine, coming from a blend of parcels around the village of Chavignol, on the chalky limestone soils. Even so, the 2022 has the finesse and poise to age for many years. After none of this cuvée was produced in 2021 due to frost, it's a delight to see it back with a bang in 2022.

This terres blanches site rises up behind the village of Chavignol and although it is only shared amongst a few growers, is one of the most famous sites in Sancerre. It shares the power of neighbouring Monts Damnés, with a tender, fleshy fruit and floral texture on the body.

Unlike his neighbours who use the lieu-dit name Cul de Beaujeu, Gérard keeps the original 'Clos' in his, as his vines lie within the oldest part of the vineyard, that had originally been surrounded by a wall. They sit in the chalky Kimmeridgian terres blanches soils of this dramatically steep south-east facing slope that rises up behind the village of Chavignol. Of all his cuvées, this is the most opulent in character, the most open and forward in its youth. 2020 is a vintage of opulence and freshness, meaning it will drink well from youth, as well as age beautifully.

Gérard's La Côte hails from the same highly-prized terres blanches (Kimmeridgian marl) vineyard as François Cotat's La Grande Côte (though in fact the parcel is officially called La Côte d'Amigny). The chalky soil here makes for the most austere of Gérard's wines, with a restrained nose that begins to open up with some air, hinting at the haunting beauty to come if you give it a few years to age. It is mineral and tense, nervous and fine-boned, with a precise and lingering finish.

Comtesse is widely regarded as one of the best, if not the best, parcel situated on what is firmly considered Sancerre's greatest hillside: Les Monts Damnés. Les Monts Damnés is a large south-facing slope running the full length of the village of Chavignol, and its Kimmeridgian terres blanches soils make some of the appellation's most powerful, structured, and longest lived wines. Comtesse has all these classic Monts Damnés characteristics, and then some. It is also one of the most perfumed and floral examples you'll find here. Its extraordinary aromatics unfurl in the glass with such intrigue and charm you'll forget this wine has anything to do with the Sauvignon Blanc grape. If you can resist the temptation posed by its delicious palate - racy, mineral, and fleshy all at once - then you'll appreciate just how much this wine has to say. It will transform in your glass through its various stages: fruit (papaya, lime), freshly cut flowers, chalky minerality, through to saline, oyster brine and smoky notes.

As the name suggests, this fruit comes from the top of the slope. The fruit feels darker than that of the Pied de la Butte, and the tannins are more present. It shows very sophisticated and clean fruit on the nose, with a whisper of mineral, iodine smoke. Taut tannins and a surprisingly dense finish round off an impressive wine.

All the fruit for this blend comes from two parcels found at the bottom part of the slope. Some vines here are as old as 80 years, so although the attack of this wine is juicy, upfront, and invitingly drinkable, the finish is sustained and persistent with that old vine concentration taking this above a simple easy-drinking wine. It’s got a wonderful sour cherry note, with lightly smoky notes. This always works well in its youth.

Some of the vines in this vineyard are over 100 years old, and the wine always has a thrilling concentration and precision. In this 2021 the fruit is chiselled, nicely tart, with a delicious fresh ripeness underneath - everything you want from Chenin Blanc. This was arguably the wine that persuaded me this is the best vintage from Jacky Blot I've ever tasted.

This is as good an introduction to Montlouis as you’ll find, and a top class example of great Chenin Blanc that shows well from early on. The charming nose shows crabapple blossom, followed by the tart bramley apple acidity typical of Chenin Blanc on the palate, along with a lightly phenolic grip. Rémus might be Jacky’s entry level white but its quality is not to be underestimated. It’s simply made in a style that Jacky thinks will drink well from youth, so don’t hesitate to pull the cork. Smoky, expressive, and precise in 2021.

Clos Mosny is a walled 12 hectare vineyard which consistently produces one of our favourite wines from Jacky. In 2021 it is so beutifully aromatic, with an energetic drive on the palate. The fruit is almost flamboyant in its expression, yet the saline tension of the acidity keeps everything tightly in balance, making this a serious and age-worthy expression of Chein Blanc. Just a hint of new oak adds a creaminess to the texture. Very long on the finish.

Like La Bretonnière, this vineyard is also within Vouvray, but cannot use the AOC name since it is vinified in Montlouis. It comes from a south-facing slope, and Jacky and Jean-Philippe are careful to get the picking date right here. Too early and it loses its drama, too late and it feels overweight. In 2021 its as dramatic and exciting as it comes: pithy, zesty and fantastically long.

This is another of Jacky's outstanding monopole vineyards. Like Clos de Venise, it actually lies within Vouvray, but becuase it is vinified on the other side of the river, in Montlouis, it cannot use the AOC name on its label. This irritating quirk of appellation beaurocracy should not overshadow the quality found here. In 2021 the Bretonnière has astonishing length and persistence. This, combined with its perfectly weighted body gives the impression of both concentration and density as well as a light-as-air frame, make it a captivating Chenin Blanc. It brims with citrus and blossom notes on the nose, with a spicy, saline palate. One of the picks of the vintage.

This is the sweet spot of Domaine de la Butte - from right in the middle of the slope - and as such, produces the most complex and ageworthy of this triptych. Jacky and Jean-Philippe hold the wine back for an extra six months in the cellar before release as they know: this wine needs time. Its huge concentration and tannic stature are matched to slightly more new oak than the other wines. The density of fruit is more than a match.

This sparkling Chenin Blanc has fast become one of our go-to fizzes. Just like the rosé, this has zero chaptalisation, zero liqueur de tirage, and zero dosage, and is as dry as they come. This ancestral methode is the same as that used to make Pet-Nats (pétillant naturel) where the fermentation is finished in bottle. But unlike a Pet Nat, this sees the lees disgorged at the end, meaning the finished wine is crystal clear. The crisp orchard fruit aromas combined with a complex biscuity character on the nose are followed by taut precision and depth of flavour on the palate. The texture of the bubbles is spot on: creamy and persistent.

This is one of the most unusual and exciting wines we have on the list. It is made from Malbec, a variety that has long been grown in the Loire, known locally as Côt. Today it’s hard to find much Côt, and this wine gets snapped up quickly every year. The 2020 has a ripe abundance of juicy black fruits, dry, well-formed tannins, and a bright balance on the palate.

This great value wine from Touraine is fruity and fresh, with just an edge of Sauvignon’s vegetal green tea notes. Jean-François explains he likes to play with the natural bitterness of Sauvignon Blanc, brilliantly controlled in this example.

This is one of the best wines we’ve tasted from Jonathan Pabiot recently. It hits all the marks. It comes from a limestone parcel near Tracy-sur-Loire and is ripe, fresh, full of energy, and shows great character. The wine has spent 18 months ageing in concrete tanks before bottling, and it has a silky texture with a deliciously long, bright finish.

This is made from the Chasselas grape, the lesser-known variety of Pouilly, with only a handful of hectares remaining today. Jonathan’s is one of the best examples: refined and floral, juicy and refreshing. What it lacks in Sauvignon Blanc’s razor sharp edges it gains in its delicate proportions.

Léon (previously named Florilège) is made from a blend of parcels across the limestone soils of the appellation. This has a limestone salinity and a brilliant tension. Such a great example of the appellation.

Formerly named Prédilection, Luminance is a phenomenal expression of Sauvignon and the most irresistible of Jonathan Pabiot’s single vineyard wines. It hails from a hardy old vine parcel on Kimmeridgean soil, producing high intensity grapes with unique character. A subsequent 16 months on the lees brings about a richness and depth rarely seen: powerful stony structure with grip and purpose, this is one of the greats.

This is the flagship wine of the estate, and offers the best of Muscadet: pale lemon yellow, a little citrus and blossom on the nose, an elegant, defined length, with some savoury structure from lees ageing bringing it all together. This is an absolutely charming Muscadet. It bursts with lemons and limes, and has such a refreshing tension.

Made in much smaller volumes than the Grand Mouton cuvée, this is from a selection of the oldest vines on the property, planted in 1937. These vines reach excellent maturity, and the grapes are always picked on the first day of harvest. This has a wonderful perfume of lemon verbena and white flowers. There is a lively intensity here, and a step up in concentration from the Grand Mouton.

This Coteaux du Layon is a sweet Chenin Blanc, with complexity borne of the many years' ageing in bottle. The Touchais family have been making wine for eight generations, since 1787. The cellars, found beneath a side street in sleepy Doué-La-Fontaine, have many stories to tell. This subterranean labyrinth was bricked over during the occupation of France during World War Two, to protect the many thousands of bottles hidden within. Once France and the cellars were liberated, it became clear that this extra ageing had elevated the wines. And so today, Moulin Touchais is famous for the late releases of its wines, many of which spend decades at the property before release.

This Coteaux du Layon is a sweet Chenin Blanc, with complexity borne of the many years' ageing in bottle. The Touchais family have been making wine for eight generations, since 1787. The cellars, found beneath a side street in sleepy Doué-La-Fontaine, have many stories to tell. This subterranean labyrinth was bricked over during the occupation of France during World War Two, to protect the many thousands of bottles hidden within. Once France and the cellars were liberated, it became clear that this extra ageing had elevated the wines. And so today, Moulin Touchais is famous for the late releases of its wines, many of which spend decades at the property before release.

This Coteaux du Layon is a sweet Chenin Blanc, with complexity borne of the many years' ageing in bottle. The Touchais family have been making wine for eight generations, since 1787. The cellars, found beneath a side street in sleepy Doué-La-Fontaine, have many stories to tell. This subterranean labyrinth was bricked over during the occupation of France during World War Two, to protect the many thousands of bottles hidden within. Once France and the cellars were liberated, it became clear that this extra ageing had elevated the wines. And so today, Moulin Touchais is famous for the late releases of its wines, many of which spend decades at the property before release.

We’ve worked with Bouvet-Ladubay in Saumur for years. Run by the charming Monmousseau family, who now fully own the estate again after a 41 year hiatus, they make some of the most impressive sparkling wines we know. So we were delighted that they agreed to work with us on Our Collection. This is a blend of Chenin Blanc - with naturally high acidity, a brilliant white grape for sparkling wines - and Chardonnay, made in the traditional method and spending a couple of years on the lees before disgorgement. The resulting wine is zesty, vibrant, and brilliantly complex. Not to mention a total bargain.

Sancerre is the spiritual home of Sauvignon Blanc, where you’ll find the most refined, purest, most ageworthy examples of the grape variety. Domaine Paul Thomas is a small, family-run estate, with just nine hectares of vines in Chavignol, for many the sweet-spot of the region, and the site of the most famous vineyard here, Les Monts-Damnés. This, a blend from the estate’s vineyards around the village of Chavignol, shows pure and aromatic citrus fruits, with a precision and tension on the palate, its texture and minerality derived from the deep limestone soils. It’s a benchmark example of a much-loved region.

This reigns supreme as the perennial red wine bargain of the list. After a short period of ageing the wine is bottled, and even in its first year it offers an upfront, fruity and refreshing style of Cabernet Franc, with lots of red cherry fruits and detailed little tannins and a floral lift. The grip is perfectly pitched, and it will drink well immediately.

Thibaud Chevré is a seriously exciting young talent in the Loire. His father spent a magnificent career work with Thierry Germain, and this wonderful vineyard - Clos de l'Ecotard - was the first parcel the father-and-son team bought. It's found right on the edge of the Saumur’s border with Anjou, and its highly active limestone and clay soil produces taut and nervous wines that reverberates with tension and energy, even in warmer years. They only use horses to plough it, but the extra hard work is worth it. The 2020 is ripe but vibrant; expressive, bursting with chalky, saline drive, and a flash of zingy freshness wrapped around fleshy fruit. This is a domaine to watch.

This is an excellent introduction to Saumur Rouge, with its sweet, leafy red fruit and silky tannins. Juiciness par excellence. Father-and-son team Michel and Thibaud Chevré are showing themselves to be every bit as skilled with reds as with whites, which is little surprise given Michel’s long career working with master of Cabernet Franc, Thierry Germain.

Thibaud and Michel Chevré only started making this cuvée in 2017, but it was frosted so badly in 2019 none was made at all. It is a pleasure to see it bounce back in 2020. The 50 year old Chenin vines on sandy clay and limestone soils make for a beautifully floral and aromatic style of wine. It has a pretty fruit weight and long mineral finish. Very good indeed.

The Pinard brothers, Clément and Florent, are top dogs in the southern village of Bué in the celebrated Sancerre appellation. They make various single vineyard wines in the village, all of which are highly detailed, gastronomic wines. Le Château sits just to the north of Le Grand Chemarin and Chêne Marchand, on Kimmeridgian marl. The wine is tense and powerful with a racy richness and voluminous, ample concentration. Ageing in oak barrels (none new) gives this Sauvignon Blanc a roundness that works so well with the natural power of the site and this vintage.

Harmonie is one of the best-loved Pinard cuvées. It’s a blend of the top vineyards in Bué: Chêne Marchand and Grand Chemarin. The nose is so complex and already so complete. It offers up crushed seashells, anise, and a touch of tropical fruit. This is Sauvignon Blanc at its vibrant best.

Les Créots is found in the relatively unknown village of Thauvenay at the south-eastern limit of the appellation. Its quartz-flecked clay soils are fertile ground for quality-minded producers seeking vineyard expression. For an introduction to the domaine’s whites, you couldn’t do much better than this. It is floral and delicate on the nose. The palate has an agile freshness. This is a wonderfully restrained style of Sancerre Blanc, with zesty freshness.

This Sancerre Rosé is made in the village of Bué by brothers Clément and Florent Pinard, who know a thing or two about Pinot Noir. It's fresh and fruity, but with serious structure underneath making it a great accompaniment with food. It's a real all-rounder of a rosé, and easily one of the best in the appellation.

The Pinard brothers are the leading authority on Sancerre Rouge. This comes from a blend of parcels in the village of Bué, thought to be the best source of Pinot Noir in the Sancerre appellation. 50-year-old vines and low yields of around 30hl/ha give wonderful concentration. This means volumes are small, and demand far outstrips supply for this wine. It has deliciously fresh, ripe red fruit at its core, and silky tannins, it is an exceptionally well made Pinot Noir in any context. Wonderfully rich yet vibrant. 30% whole bunch.