François Cazin (Le Petit Chambord) - Cheverny Rouge 2023

Created in 1993, Cheverny is one of the most recent appellations in the Loire Valley. The area, south of the Loire and abutting the marshy region of Sologne (the best hunting grounds in France), has produced wines since the 6th century. The soils consist of various combinations of clay, limestone and silica. Many varietals are planted: Pinot Noir, Gamay, Cabernet and Côt for red wines, Sauvignon Blanc, Chardonnay, Chenin and Menu Pineau for the whites.

Cazin tends vines of considerable age and the resulting yields are well below average in any given year. His Cheverny is fresh and floral, with appley-texture and crisp acidity. The flavors are sleek and precise. Since 1997, the wine has been bottled unfiltered by gravity. His wines have consistently been the top pick of the vintage at the annual Loire Valley wine show in Angers. By legislation, a Cheverny wine has to be a blend of varietals and Cazin’s white is 70% Sauvignon Blanc and 30% Chardonnay.

Cazin also makes a cuvée of Cour-Cheverny, exclusively from the ancient local grape Romorantin. This varietal, with its high acidity and minerality, can be angular and rough. But in the right hands, it achieves high ripeness and the wine has astonishing grapey, apricot and roasted nuts flavors, kept fresh and lively by good acidity. In very ripe vintages, when the grapes undergo passerillage or noble rot, Cazin vinifies some of his Romorantin off-dry, calling it "Cuvée Renaissance". A considerably smaller amount of red wine is also produced from Pinot Noir and Gamay.

65% Pinot/30% Gamay/5% Côt. From estate vines averaging thirty years old on clay-limestone soils, sustainably farmed and harvested by hand. The varieties are vinified separately: each is fermented spontaneously with native yeasts and without sulfur. The Pinot Noir and Côt are destemmed and fermented separately; they are aged separately in used oak. The Gamay undergoes a whole-cluster, semi-carbonic maceration and is aged in tank. The wine is blended and bottled in the spring after the vintage with a small amount of sulfur. 

Producer: François Cazin (Le Petit Chambord)

Country: France

Region: Loire Valley

Varietal: Pinot Noir, Gamay

Appellation: Cheverny

Vintage: 2023

Size: 750ml