L'Anjou Blanc, Château de Plaisance 2023

To say this wine is made from some of the world's best Chenin Blanc terroir is no overstatement, although only labelled an Anjou Blanc this is purely down to French wine politics. In fact it comes from vineyards designated Charme for sweet wines that surround the famous Grand Cru Quarts de Chaume where some of the world's greatest sweet wines come from. Because this is a very rare dry wine from those vineyards it is not allowed to use those illustrious badges. Working biodynamically owner Vanessa Cherruau believes that really good dry Chenin Blancs can also be made from this top terroir, and so she has proved. Ripe aromas of peach, nectarine and apricot lead onto a medium-full bodied soft palate with honeyed notes and balanced acidity. This is an elegant wine that is really rather moreish.

Vanessa recommends to drink alone, or with lots of friends! Try with linguine and artichokes.

Château de Plaisance is a 25-hectare estate in the heart of the Côteaux de Layon appellation and around this area some of the Loire's most sought-after sweet wines are made. However, the owner, Vanessa Cherruau, is pretty keen on producing top quality dry whites as well. She took over the estate from Guy Rochais in 2019 who, somewhat controversially, pioneered the making of dry wines from around here and she is very much on the same wavelength as her predecessor. The estate has been organic since 1995 and biodynamic since 2008. Chenin Blanc dominates the plantings throughout their vineyards which are sited in such famous places as Quarts de Chaume, Premier Cru Chaume and Savennières - pretty exalted terroir. They also produce a small amount of reds from Cabernet Franc and even a little Cabernet Sauvignon. Their dry wines have to be de-classified down to simple Anjou Blanc because the likes of Quarts de Chaume are reserved for sweet wines only. But don't be deceived their Anjou Blanc wines are properly serious and deserve to be treated as such.