Le Naturel Vouvray

About: A Petillant Naturel made from Chenin Blanc grown in Vouvray. A brilliant aperitif wine, it may be just as good standing up as seated at table, and it may also be one to cleanse the palate after eating, too. Refreshing, gentle, fine crisp and very digestible.

Location: from the communes of Chançay and Vernou.
Size: 2 hectares.
Age: vines planted in 1980.
Soils: clay soils comprising a lot of silex.
Exposition: north-facing.
Altitude: 100m.
Training: on wire, cordon de royat.
Farming: organic, cover crops.
Average yield hl/ha: 45.
Climate: continental with cool, wet winters and hot, dry summers.

Winemaking
Fruit is hand harvested into small 15kg boxes, and carefully sorted on arrival at the winery. It’s immediately very slowly pressed for about 5h and cold-settled overnight. Moved to stainless steel tank, it’s fermented using natural yeasts at a naturally cool cellar temperature, around 16 to 22º. No sulfites are added until just before bottling. It’s bottled in January or February after the harvest, without fining or filtration, to be released for sale around 9 months later.