Le Mont demi-sec 2008 1500ml Magnum

An off-dry Chenin Blanc from the Le Mont vineyard in Vouvray, 2008 vintage, bottled in magnum. Colour and aroma suggest a lush wine, yet the palate delivers the opposite: slender, cool, precise. It is exactly this tension that carries it.

Le Mont spans nine hectares on the Première Côte, south-facing and situated directly above the estate's historic tuffeau cellars. Beneath the clay topsoil lies flint, known along the Loire as silex, which offers outstanding conditions for Chenin Blanc. Gaston Huet secured this vineyard in 1957 for the estate founded in 1928.

Chenin Blanc, in Vouvray known as the grape of moonlight. Gaston Huet introduced biodynamics in the late 1980s, and the entire estate has been Demeter-certified since 1993. Whether a vintage turns out Sec, Demi-Sec or Moelleux is decided by the weather. Ageing takes place in neutral vessels within the deep rock cellars at a constant temperature; since 2020, Benjamin Joliveau, a Vouvray native, has been responsible for the wines. 13.5% vol.

Radiant gold in the glass; the nose opens with strikingly clear white truffle, followed after a few minutes by preserved stone fruit, fennel and parsnip, alongside cardamom and turmeric. The entry is astringent and slender, the 27 g/l residual sugar advancing in lockstep with the acidity. The stony subsoil lends a cool, dark depth, and the finish turns tropical while retaining a trace of truffle.

Green bean ragout with morels, risotto Milanese with Alba truffle and saddle of veal with Albufera sauce and arugula-mushroom salad.

The magnum format slows ageing: this 2008 is only just entering the second half of its life.