Les Chanteaux The Rare White Chinon from Couly-Dutheil Steals My Heart

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  Arnaud Couly, the estate’s very talented winemaker and his father in the Couly-Dutheil cellars

I had really come to taste the red wine, the Clos de l’Echo, but this is what always happens at tastings. You want to taste the flagship wine, but the grower wants you to taste everything he makes — sparkling, rosé, late harvest sweet wines, the latest biodynamic experiment and then if you ask one teensy question about any one of them — you hear the sound of pulling corks and suddenly multiple vintages have appeared from the left and the right.

Of course, it would be impolite to refuse and so you don’t. After all, you are wooing them as much as they are wooing you because you WANT to import that Clos de l’Echo and you don’t want to be uncouth. We’re talking about Chinon from the Loire Valley – specifically the Touraine and Couly-Dutheil, the family who makes it. They own the best vineyards and they make the best Chinon.

So, I walked into the tasting room and the first thing I notice is they must have borrowed the table from the UN Security Council. Yes, if you sat across from me at that table I would need distance glasses. Huge! There are no less than a dozen bottles of red and white wines already open (But, I really came to just taste the red — I whimper to myself).

And, then it happened. I dutifully hefted a glass of chilled Les Chanteaux and it completely disarmed me. That lovely Chenin Blanc – A WHITE. Dry. Crisp, floral, vibrant with lovely acidity and AGRUMES, that blend of citrus flavors like grapefruit and lemons. It was delicious.

Right there, I learned a lesson: don’t be so closed-minded. You never know when you are going to stumble onto something great. AND, then, listen to this. THEY didn’t want me to have it. The wine comes from only 5 hectares (12.5 acres) and the family doesn’t make much of it. “Maybe we could part with a case or two – for your personal cellar,” they told me. They finally let me have 35 cases, but it required some sweet-talking I assure you (and more wine tasting).

The long and the short of it is I suspect my little Chanteaux will become your Chardonnay understudy. But look out. You know the story. Suddenly, this little curvy, overachiever Chenin Blanc performs her heart out and sweeps you off your feet and your Chardonnay just doesn’t seem like such a femme fatale any more – in fact a little flabby. Oh, my! And, look at the label on Chanteaux! That is some gorgeous packaging.

Les Chanteaux is fabulous in part because of its great terroir. Chalky soil and sunny exposure. The wine matures on its lees for nine months. The grapes are handpicked by trie. That means that multiple passes are made through the vineyards to pick only the ripest grapes. The Chenin Blanc grape is not an easy grape to grow and ripeness is crucial.

So, let Chanteaux sing to you. She will win you over. Cynthia Hurley

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