Stephane Bernaudeau Les Nourrissons 2018

The cuvée Les Nourrissons is the wine that made Stéphane Bernaudeau's reputation, a 0.7-hectare parcel of Chenin Blanc planted in 1910, with a small percentage of Verdelho of unknown origin co-planted alongside generations ago. The plot was previously farmed by Loire natural-wine pioneer Eric Calcutt, who sold it to Bernaudeau when he established the domaine in 2000. The vines are now over 110 years old, dry-farmed, biodynamic, hand-harvested at low yields. The 2018 vintage was warm and dry across the Loire, a long, generous summer that produced wines of unusual ripeness and concentration. In Bernaudeau's hands the heat doesn't translate into heavy: native-yeast fermentation, long élevage in old oak, no fining, no filtration, minimal sulfur. The result is a Chenin Blanc of remarkable tension and depth, with the saline tropical lift that defines the cuvée, quince, beeswax, candied lemon, white flowers, schist minerality, a long finish that holds its line. Drink now through 2038. Note on the appellation: Bernaudeau formerly labelled Les Nourrissons under AOC Anjou with the "vignes centenaires" mention, but for years now has bottled the cuvée exclusively as Vin de France. The shift reflects his philosophy more than a change in the wine, the vines, the parcel, the methods are unchanged. About Domaine Stéphane Bernaudeau Stéphane Bernaudeau established his domaine in 2000 in the hamlet of Cornu, near Martigné-Briand in the Terranjou commune of Anjou, just south of Angers in the Loire Valley. He works under the Triple A designation (Agriculteurs, Artisans, Artistes, the Italian natural-wine classification) and farms organically and biodynamically from the start. Wines are minimal-intervention parcellaire bottlings: each cuvée is a specific block of vines, vinified separately. Production is tiny across the range, allocations are tight, and the wines have become some of the most sought-after Chenins in the Loire. Critics have rated Les Nourrissons 91-94 points across vintages.