Vouvray Sec Les Pentes de la Folie 2021

Grapes: Chenin Blanc.
About: Sebastien’s top dry wine made one tiny parcel of 80 year old vines grown on a steep hillside. The Cuvée is named after the hamlet where the vines are grown with the charming name of the folly. The pinnacle of the Sebastien style, a wonderful balance between the taut salty mineral acidity and rich, full, dense, energetic fruit.

Vines

Location: a steep hillside in the hamlet of La Folie midway between Chançay and Vernou-sur-Brenne.
Size ha: <1.
Age: vines planted in 1935.
Soils: clay with lots of surface silex and a clay-limestone sub-soils.
Exposition: south-east.
Altitude: 100m.
Training: on wire, cordon de royat.
Farming: organic, cover crops.
Average yield hl/ha: 35.
Climate: continental with cool, wet winters and hot, dry summers.

Winemaking

Fruit was hand harvested into small 15kg boxes, carefully sorted on arrival at the winery, then very slowly pressed then left to cold-settle overnight. It was fermented using natural yeasts, without additives and unsulphured, for three months, in part new and 1 to 5 year old 400L and 500L oak barrels. It’s aged 8 months before bottling.