François Chidaine is revered for his pristine Chenin Blancs from Montlouis and Vouvray. For a fraction of the price of those wines, here is a touch of Chidaine magic in the form of a Sauvignon cropped from vines in Chissay-en-Touraine and Saint-Julien-de-Chédon. These vineyards lie in the heart of the Touraine appellation, less than 10km upstream from Montlouis, and the viticulture is strictly organic and biodynamic. Alongside his own vineyards, Chidaine now also sources fruit from his grower son-in-law, Jean-Baptiste Bonnigal, in Limeray.

Fermented with a high degree of solids before maturation on lees—a little barrel-aged fruit adds complexity—you'll find engaging zesty citrus character here, along with a delicious touch of white flower and peach skin. As always with Chidaine, you get terroir first and variety second. 

It is so good to see this great-value wine become a regular starter in the Chidaine portfolio. This label was created in 2021, when, having lost 60% of his yields, François reached out to his contacts to secure small parcels of Chenin Blanc from across Touraine. ‘The Chenin from here’ ends up a roughly 50/50 blend of purchased and estate fruit, including grapes from many of the domaine’s exceptional parcels spread across Vouvray and Montlouis.  

Made in the same way as his estate cuvées—fermented with native yeasts and aged in used 600-litre barrels—the resulting wine is popping with Chidaine magic. It’s a deliciously fleshy, orchard-in-a-glass Chenin with a close-grained, chalky core of tightly packed white peach, sweet herbs, citrus, and a zippy, grapefruit-flecked finish.  

Les Grillonnières is a tiny parcel of 120-year-old vines farmed and bottled by François and Manuéla Chidaine’s eldest child, Alice Chidaine. Following her studies, Alice knocked up some work experience with Dagueneau and Clos Rougeard as well as old-vine Chenin specialist Chris Alheit (in South Africa) before returning home in time for the 2016 vintage. Since 2015, Alice has been cutting her teeth on the classic flint-clay soils of this old-vine Montlouis parcel.

The south-facing Les Grillonnières is a warmer site than Alice’s brothers’ Epinays parcel resulting in a wonderfully refined and textural mouthfeel loaded with juicy lemon, confit pear and fragrant herbs underpinned by phenolic grip, tangy acidity and a tapering close flecked with iodine. Respect. The winemaking barely differs from her father and the label bears both Alice’s and her father’s name. The apple never falls far from the tree! 

If the vineyards of Montlouis were drawn up along Burgundian lines, Les Bournais would be first in line for Grand Cru status. Settled on a limestone plateau directly above the Loire, the chalky soils of Les Bournais would not be out of place on Vouvray’s Première Côte (home to Clos du Bourg and Le Mont). Unlike most of Montlouis, which is on clay and flint, this four-hectare vineyard sits on a pocket of clay and Bournais limestone, from which it takes its name. Planted in 1998, the vines gently follow the contours of the land, right to the edge of a chalky precipice. The roots have just 35 centimetres of clay soils to burrow through before hitting the limestone bedrock, perhaps one reason we always see a distinctive smokiness in the aromas of these wines. 

When tasted alongside the Clos du Breuil and Les Choisilles cuvées, this is clearly an altogether more Vouvrillon expression of Montlouis, with a powdery, chalky structure reflecting its soils and location.  Fermented naturally in 620-litre demi-muids, it’s an ultra-intense dry Chenin: very complex with all kinds of tangy fruit and nuances of white peach, juicy pineapple, citrus peel, blossom, ginger and vibrant mineral earthiness (a signature of all Chidaine wines) lurking underneath all the puppy fat. The balance is impeccable, as is the lip-smacking chalky finish. 

This domaine has several cuvées that often fall into what would traditionally be called demi-sec territory. However, Chidaine prefers to call these wines tendre, or ‘gently dry’. This is because the level of sweetness can fluctuate widely depending on the vintage. Like the greats of the Mosel, these are wines where the sugar/acid balance is more important than residual sugar levels. They are powered by ripeness rather than sweetness, and always finish tangy and fresh. 

The three-hectare Clos Habert sits just above the Clos du Breuil, on a plateau where the silex (flint) gives way to broken chalk and clay. It’s home to 60-year-old guyot and bush-trained vines with very low yields (circa 30 hl/ha) that are harvested by hand in passes. The 2020 was raised in large format barrel.

It’s another powerful release for this great wine. Finishing with roughly 13 g/L residual, it's a more citrusy wine than the Tuffeaux bottling and just as gorgeous. Just off-dry in feel, it’s an elegant riot of crystalline quince, Poire William and orange peel cut with a lovely balancing seam of ripe acidity before the long, snaking finish. Relish this with sweet-and-sour dishes or bring out the best Comté you can get your hands on.

This much-loved 100% Chenin Blanc is drawn from the second, later picks across a range of Chidaine’s old Chenin plots (including the Clos du Volagray, Saint-Martin and Les Grillonnières) that have stony soils which are heavy in yellow limestone. These vines range in age from 30 to 90 years and are always cropped at tiny yields. The wine was vinified in the most natural way possible: using native yeasts, then aged in 600-litre demi-muids for 10 months and bottled unfiltered.  

François Chidaine does not produce this cuvée every year, and when he does, it should be a case of run, don’t walk. Always one of our favourite Chidaine wines, the new release is a ravishing, tangy example layered with Seville marmalade, lemon curd and fresh ginger notes. Finishing with 13.8 g/L residual, it's so spicy and generous but finishes dry and powdery with a savoury lick on the finish. It’s seriously impossible to stop drinking. It sings on its own, or with some charcuterie, but will take you to another realm when paired with Southeast Asian flavours. 

Previous tasters will already know that although this wine is actually 100% Chenin Blanc from Vouvray it is not permitted to be labelled as such—simply because it is fermented and aged across the river in Montlouis. It’s therefore labelled as Vin de France, a change in circumstances that has not bothered Chidaine clients one jot. 

This magnificent bottling is drawn from a series of clay-rich Vouvray sites (argiles=clay) that surround the Clos Baudoin. These include l’Espagnole, la Chatterie, l’Homme, la Reugnières and le Haut-Lieu (the same site of Huet fame). Set away from the river, these sites are mostly populated with 40-year-old bush vines, which grow on deep, chalky clay over a subsoil of limestone. With this cuvée, the Chidaine family harness the best of both worlds: on the one hand, the density, the fruity and sensual generosity of the clays, on the other, the vertical and spicy energy of the limestone. 

The combination of a warm and dry vintage with Chidaine’s precise, old-school winemaking has conveyed a predictably top-flight dry, chalky and savoury Chenin Blanc. Glistening bright gold, it opens with scents of lemon curd, poached apples and quince. Brown spice and mineral notes emerge with air, while the palate is serenely sculpted and filled with citrus fruit and mirabelle plum. The interplay between the sleek texture, energising acidity and long saline finish is pure Chidaine. Time will tell us just how great this Vouvray will be—for now, it’s a deep and compact Chenin bursting with potential. And with a light grip on the finish, it’s made for food.  

Chidaine began working with one of the greatest and most storied Vouvray vineyards in 2002 and immediately began restoring the health of Clos Baudoin’s soil and converting it to biodynamics. You only need to stand in the vineyard to know you are in a great site. Sitting on the crest of a hill high over the surrounding countryside, it is a strangely tranquil place. It's 2.7 hectares in size with an average vine age of over 70 years. The soils are clay and chalk, with a deep tuffeau (local limestone) subsoil. 

Compared to the relative approachability of this grower’s Les Argiles cuvée, this wine is a deep, tightly coiled and densely compact Vouvray. Exuding intensity and power, you immediately realise you’re tasting a wine from a profound terroir.  Raised in 10+-year-old demi-muids, it opens with citrus peel and clementine flecked by lime blossom and chalky mineral substance. A racy, mouthwatering vintage for Baudoin, the palate is pure and focused, purring with stone-fruited intensity underscored by racy, bitter citrus freshness.