Domaine Vigneau-Chevreau Vouvray Sec Cuvée Silex 2018

Domaine Vigneau-Chevreau’s 2018 Vouvray Sec Cuvée Silex provides ample evidence as to why Vouvray and the region’s prized varietal, Chenin Blanc, are currently in vogue and receiving well-deserved critical acclaim. Favorable weather in 2018 and the proliferation of meticulous organic producers such as Vigneau-Chevreau continue to push the envelope in Vouvray. The 2018 Vigneau-Chevreau Vouvray Sec Cuvée Silex offers a glowing golden robe and sensuous scents of freshly picked apples, quince, and acacia flowers. In the mouth, a draught laden with the wine’s pure fruit and mineral scents emerges to delight the palate. On the palate, quince, apple, pear, and more all come to fore in a balanced, textured format that walks a tightrope between seductive fruit and mouthwatering acidity. The youthful 2018 Domaine Vigneau-Chevreau Vouvray Sec Cuvée Silex is thoroughly delightful now, but there is no need to hurry. This balanced beauty will improve in bottle and pay dividends for years to come. For optimal enjoyment, we suggest affording the 2018 Domaine Vigneau-Chevreau Cuvée Silex a few minutes in the glass prior to consuming (40°-45° F) to shed its refrigerator chill and reveal its pure fruit and pronounced minerality, born of the silex soils from which the finest wines Vouvray flow. Salut!

Domaine Vigneau-Chevreau’s 2018 Vouvray Sec Cuvée Silex begs to accompany fish, shellfish and a diversity of cuisines from near and far. Sushi, grilled trout, sea bass, and spicy Thai dishes top our list of preferred pairings with this wine. Lobster and crawfish make splendid accompaniments, too. Mildly spicy East Indian dishes also work well with this wine. Pâtés, charcuterie, melon wrapped with prosciutto, and hors d’oeuvres provide more delicious pairings. Strong cheeses provide other winning accompaniments to the Vigneau brothers’ artfully crafted Vouvray Sec Cuvée Silex. Even Roquefort and other blue cheeses shouldn’t overpower the charm of this exquisite Vouvray. And in case you were wondering, Vigneau-Chevreau’s pure and satisfying 2018 Vouvray Sec Cuvée Silex makes a wonderful aperitif, and with nary a morsel. Enjoy!

Long considered a noble wine and a favorite of French kings, Vouvray’s motto Je réjouis les coeurs (“I gladden the heart”) is truly taken to heart at Domaine Vigneau-Chevreau, where beautifully tended gardens and acres of pristine vines along gentle slopes facing the meandering Loire River greet the visitor. Located in the heart of the Vouvray appellation, Domaine Vigneau-Chevreau specializes in fashioning exceptional still and sparkling Chenin Blanc, Vouvray’s great claims to fame.

Domaine Vigneau-Chevreau has been in the Vigneau family since 1875 and is presently under the meticulous care of brothers Christophe and Stephane Vigneau. The domain’s vineyards (which includes Cuvée Silex, this month’s feature) are all certified organic by Ecocert. Christophe and Stephane have taken organic viticulture even further by subscribing to Rudolph Steiner’s principles of biodynamic farming. Biodynamic farming involves more work, lower yields, and even stricter requirements than organic farming.

Domaine Vigneau-Chevreau cultivates several vineyards including Clos de Rougement whose vines date to the Roman period and legend has it was first cultivated by St. Martin of Tours, a 4th century bishop and monk, who is also believed to have grafted the first Chenin Blanc variety from the wild grapes of the nearby Touraine forests. Moreover, Vigneau-Chevreau’s vineyards are planted on a variety of Vouvray’s classic soils: tufa, clay, and silex. The latter, silex, bears an abundance of flinty stones on the surface and is especially favorable to the cultivation of Chenin Blanc. Domaine Vigneau-Chevreau’s Cuvée Silex emanates from this special soil, which gives the wine great aromatic diversity in the form of freshly picked apples, quince, and acacia honey.

Vouvray is the most renowned and respected appellation in Touraine, a province long known as the playground of French kings. Touraine lies at the very heart of France and occupies the central section of France’s Loire Valley. This picturesque region along the slow moving Loire River and its tributaries encompasses some of France’s oldest and most respected vineyards as well as the great Renaissance châteaux for which the region is equally famous.

Wines entitled to the Vouvray appellation hail exclusively from a single grape variety – Chenin Blanc. Unlike other French appellations whose wines exemplify their diversity through a myriad of different grape varieties, Vouvray expresses itself and its many attributes with a single grape, which can be made dry (sec), semi-sweet (demi-sec), moelleux (soft and lightly sparkling), or sweet (doux). In fact, about half of the appellation’s entire production is in sparkling wine made with the same traditional method used in Champagne. Moreover, Vouvray can be enjoyed young or, in the case of the region’s finest sweet wines, aged for decades, evolving from a crisp bracing wine into a luscious potion.