La Grange Tiphaine 2023 Montlouis-sur-Loire Clef de Sol Blanc

Coralie and Damien Delecheneau make beautiful organic wines in Montlouis and Touraine. Their Clef de Sol means treble clef and is a tribute to music, Damien being an accomplished clarinetist and Coralie a choir singer. Clef de Sol is a blend of different southern exposed plots located in Montlouis on sandy perruches, i.e. clay and flint over tuffeau. The vines are mostly 80 years old, and farmed biodynamically. Hand-harvested mid-september, the grapes are sorted in the vineyard and the cellar, whole-cluster pressed, then fermented in barrels (225 and 400L) in the underground cellar. The wine is aged for a year on the fine lees. Clef de Sol is without a doubt a benchmark wine for Montlouis, in the line of François Chidaine’s Les Bournais but drier, with more density and less oak than Jacky Blot’s cuvées. In other words, it's a superb Chenin Blanc that is a great pairing for anything from the sea, and is a lovely aperitif as well.