Francois Cazin Cour-Cheverny Le Petit Chambord

The Grape... Romorantin is a very old grape variety native to this part of the Loire. It is in danger of disappearing if not for the efforts of a few people like François Cazin. It features high acidity and minerality and makes mediocre wines when poor vintages or vineyard sites do not allow the grapes to ripen. This precipitated most vineyard plantings of Romorantin to be replanted with easier and more commercially sought-after grape varieties. But when Romorantin achieves high ripeness, as Francois Cazin’s often do, the wine is magical with astonishing grapeyness and flavors of stone fruit, melon and roasted nuts kept fresh and lively by good acidity.

The Place... On the southern side of the Loire River, within Touraine, east of Tours, and within Cheverny you will find Cour-Cheverny a tiny sub appellation used for labeling wines made only of Romorantin from this area. The terroir matches that of Cheverny, with unpredictable rains and real vintage variation, this is not an easy place to grow grapes. The soils are a mix of limestone, silica and clay, and wines from this area are known to possess minerality and acidity in abundance.

The Wine... This wine is a compelling story of persistence and skill. Cazin tends vines of considerable age, hand picks the fruit, and his yields are well below average. The result is great concentration of flavor. This wine is vibrant and fresh with intense fruit flavors. When you add the overlay of acidity and minerality, the wine finishes dry. The combination will make you want another sip. This wine has the weight of some New World whites with considerably more elegance, better acidity and lower alcohol. It is bottled by gravity and is unfiltered, and what a wine for the price. Lastly this wine ages well, similar to Chenin Blanc from Vouvray. Cazin's bottling of Cour-Cheverny labeled Cuvée Renaissance is made as a demi-sec from later harvested, riper grapes afflicted with boytritis, or noble rot.