What we drank last night: 2006 Francois Chidaine “Les Argiles” Vouvray

AVIN3240841595014, Biodynamic, Chenin Blanc, Francois Chidaine, Loire Valley, What we drank last night

Okay, so we know we said we’d have notes on the Selene Sauv Blanc and the Amavi Cab among others, but we were so excited to pop the cork on a recent release from one of our favorite producers that we’re going to do things out of order.

You can get lots of good information on Francois Chidaine, an organic and biodynamic winemaker based in the Loire Valley of France, from the Louis/Dressner website (on the West Coast, Beaune Imports handles the wines, just in case you care!). Chidaine works with the white varieties of the Loire, which means he primarily produces Chenin Blanc and Sauvignon Blanc, though his focus is much more on the former than the latter. From what we’ve tasted, almost all of Chidaine’s wines seem to have at least a smidgen of residual sugar, but for the bone dry ‘07 Touraine Sauv Blanc that we’re sold currently out of but eagerly awaiting a new shipment of (it’s a bargain at under $12 a bottle).

The Vouvray “Les Argiles” fits within this pattern, and the 2006 is a lovely, highly approachable and drinkable Chenin with tropical overtones, a small amount of residual sugar, and just a hint of acidity (really, almost unnoticeable). Our tendency of late has been to gravitate to the more highly acidic wines, and this is not that. But this mild acidity didn’t at all hamper our enjoyment of the wine.

The ‘06 “Les Argiles” isn’t flabby or without structure, but rather viscous, smooth, and un-tingly in only a good way. This wine complemented the Greek salad and white bean hummus we served it alongside, and was lovely on its own as well. As the wine warmed slightly over the evening, the flavors only got more pronounced, with white donut peaches taking over and aromas of Jasmine really coming to the forefront. White donut peaches? A bit specific, but that’s what popped into our head as we sipped. Forgive our lapse into pretension, please.

We haven’t carried a Chidaine Vouvray before, focusing more on the Montlouis wines that he’s perhaps best known for — and the bargain Touraine. In fact, we picked this up from a competitor…but we’ll definitely consider the ‘06 “Les Argiles” for our inventory, as it represents very good value at about $24 a bottle. It also appears to be the only of Chidaine’s wines available from the distributor in half bottles, for those of you interested in that kind of thing. We can’t find any retailers who carry the 375s, but if you want to special order them, they should be available. Just ask your friendly LWS clerk (or us) and I’m sure they’d be happy to source them on your behalf.

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