We’ve been worrying a bit recently that some of the Chenins we’ve bought haven’t quite got the staying power we’d hoped and one or two that we’ve opened recently have tasted super-evolved. Now whether this has anything to do with the current trend for using much lower levels of sulphur at bottling (to be applauded on the whole) I don’t know. Anyway this Savennières was tasting fabulous. 2005 was a glorious vintage with plenty of sunshine and the wines (both red and white) are pretty delicious on the whole. As Savennières producers are forced to pick in several tries (ie pass through the vineyards at least more than once), grapes are picked at full ripeness and due to the nature of the terroir around these villages, this leads to wines that are (on the whole) pretty high in alcohol.
At 14,5 the wine certainly packs a punch on the palate but the alcohol does not dominate and the wine remains balanced and delicious. Lovely elegant aromas of lime and white flowers are followed by a rather exotic note of saffron and stone fruit which is just beguiling. Rich and round on the palate, not too fat or heavy, nice acidity and balance. Really, really good.
