2008 François Chidaine Montlouis Brut Nature

WINEMAKER: François Chidaine
REGION: Loire Valley, FR
VARIETAL: Chenin Blanc
VITICULTURE: Organic/Biodynamic

It’s back! The last time we offered a back vintage of Chidaine’s exceptional sparkling was with the 2005 vintage, which arrived in 2018. That wine was an absolute revelation; we were not aware that Chidaine was bottle-aging a parcel of his Montlouis brut. The 2008, from a year François describes as exceptional for his sparkling wines (and for Champagne by the way), is even better! Chidaine is widely acknowledged in France as one of the Loire Valley’s great sparkling wine craftsmen, not least by Benjamin Dagueneau (who enlisted Chidaine’s help when trialling his own sparkling), and this wine goes some way to explain the accolade. It’s a pure, very complex and elegant release that expresses the chalky terroir of its origin through an abundance of salty, marine and truffle aromas and flavours. The palate is still firmly structured, with a great purity and persistent minerality. Revelations II. Grab some while it lasts!