Courault 2023 Le Petit Chemin (Chenin Blanc)

Le Petit Chemin means the "little path," of course a pun, to describe Benoit Courault's "baby Chenin," his Chenin from younger vines. The younger vines of the domain are used for this wine, but they grow on beautiful, top decomposed schist soils in Faye d'Anjou. This is historically a world-class terroir for botrytis wines, and is becoming also a superb site for dry versions of Chenin. Hand-harvested, the grapes are whole-cluster pressed, then vinified in large foudre for 6 months before being bottled with no sulfur. Malo happens, but the acidity remains bracing! On the palate, the wine is dense but really focused, and certainly lingering. It becomes more savory, loosing the oxidative notes of the nose to become more reductive. Its backing bitterness - think pear skin - makes it even more salivating. Really a top Chenin for the price! Keep it 5 years without any problem, or enjoy it now in larger glasses.