2018 Vouvray Renaissance

Certified Ecocert and AB organic. 45-year-old Chenin vines on clay limestone. Hand-picked. 10 months on the lees in new and 10-year-old oak barrels. RS 1.9 g/l. Quince nose and dry but deep quince and toast flavours on the palate. Quite a complex tapestry of spice and minerality and fruit, citrus-peel bitterness and oils, lots of exciting texture – there is something about the feel and taste of this wine that makes me think of hand-carved and hand-polished black walnut, such fine tight grain that it has gloss, an inner iridescence. Tight and promising much for the patient with good cellars. (TC)