Jacky Blot - Taille Aux Loups - 'Triple Zéro' - Chenin Blanc - Loire Valley, FR - NV - 1500ml

Notes from the Winery/Importer

• Certified organic
- 100% Chenin Blanc
- 60-80+ year old vines
- Grapes harvested at full maturity, 12°-12.5° potential alcohol
- Allows for the three “Zeros”
- Zero chaptalization
- Zero liqueur de tirage
- Zero dosage
- No malo
- Pétillant naturel
- One long fermentation done with indigenous yeasts
- Fermented and aged in 5-10 year old barrels
- Aged on the lees for 24 months

Notes on the Producer

“With François Chidaine, Jacky Blot has been instrumental in taking Montlouis out of Vouvray’s shadow and establishing for it a reputation of its own—and a better one at that. Much of what he has done appears old hat today, but it was revolutionary at the time: organic viticulture, hand harvests, wild yeasts, barrel fermentations and no malolactic conversions”
–Vinous Media
“Jacky’s wines, including his not-anymore Vouvray, are the perfect example: They’re bone-dry, less fruity than complex and austere. He believes sugar blurs chenin’s ability to transparently reveal its best qualities, which is why his winemaking is almost fanatically Burgundian, although he prefers to describe it as “the school of Montlouis.” He ferments all his whites in barrels. And rather than a cold, quick fermentation meant to highlight aromas, he borrows from Burgundy’s elite cadre, winemakers like Jean-François Coche (of Coche-Dury) and Jean-Marc Roulot (of Domaine Roulot): he exposes the grape must to oxygen before a long, slow fermentation and leaves the finished wine in steel tanks for months before bottling, which firms up the texture.”
-Jon Bonné
The future of Loire Valley Chenin Blanc is in single vineyard, dry, terroir-driven whites that can compete with the best in the world for precision, length, complexity and ageability. The late, legendary Jacky Blot and his son Jean-Philippe understood this clearly and focused their domaine on making these crystalline Chenin from their organic sites in the best parts of the appellation. Ever since Jacky first purchased eight hectares of old vines in Montlouis in the late 1980s, he transformed and built up the domaine into one of the Loire’s finest addresses. The beautifully cared for sites are allowed to sing to their full potential, without sugar, without battonage, without malo, and minimal filtration. This domaine is without question one of the inspirational leaders of this growing movement towards world-class single site wines.
-Skurnik Wines

Grapes & Style

Chenin Blanc

Chenin Blanc is the great white grape of the Loire, especially Anjou, Savennières, Vouvray, and Montlouis, and it’s also deeply important in South Africa, where it has long been known as Steen. It’s one of the most versatile white grapes in the world, capable of dry, off-dry, sparkling, and sweet wines with real longevity.

In the vineyard, Chenin buds early and ripens late enough that site and season matter. It keeps acidity naturally well, which is a major part of its usefulness across styles. In the right conditions, it can also develop noble rot, making some of the world’s great sweet wines without losing freshness.

In the glass, Chenin can show apple, pear, quince, citrus, honey, wool, lanolin, chamomile, and a stony, savory edge. The best dry versions have tension and texture at the same time; the sweeter versions can be rich without feeling heavy. Chenin is one of those grapes that can look simple on paper but becomes deeply expressive in the hands of thoughtful growers.