Description
François Chidaine’s ‘Les Argiles’ is a Vin de France (downgraded Vouvray). A dry, mineral white wine with a clear, luminous colour. Purity and elegance characterise this vintage, which offers notes of citrus and white fruits. It has a lovely balance on the palate, finishing with a crisp, salty finish. Ageing potential: 10–15 years.
The winemaker tells you about it
Due to frost, drought and the heatwave, everything hung in the balance. Our early, sunny and warm harvest gave us the feeling that things weren’t going to be easy, with a forecast of a small crop. However, nature came to our aid, giving us lovely, healthy grapes and balanced, intense, even surprising juices. Wines we never imagined! It’s pure magic and, above all, the feeling that we made the right choices in our vineyards.
In the vineyard, in the cellar
- GRAPE VARIETY: 100% Chenin Blanc
- VINES: 40 years old
- ALCOHOL CONTENT: 13%
- RESIDUAL SUGAR: 3.8 g/L
- BOTTLED: August 2020
- TOTAL ACIDITY: 4.27 g/L
- SOIL: composed of deep clay and white chalk, exclusively of a clay-limestone nature.
- HARVEST: hand-picked with successive sorting
- VITICULTURAL PRACTICES: The vineyard is managed using biodynamic methods. No chemical pesticides are used in the vineyard. The soil is grassed, and honey plants and nematicides are sown between the rows. The preparations used are derived solely from processed plant, animal and mineral materials. The qualities and characteristics of each terroir are thus respected. The aim is to strike a balance and create harmonious living conditions between the soil, the vines and the environment in order to produce a high-quality wine.
- VINIFICATION: After pressing in a pneumatic press, alcoholic fermentation is carried out by indigenous yeasts in demi-muids, wooden casks with a capacity of 600 litres. This can last up to six months. Malolactic fermentation is not encouraged.
- AGEING: This takes place on fine lees, always in demi-muids (total duration 11 months).
What to eat with Les Argiles by François Chidaine?
- Grilled fish
- warm cockle salad
- goat’s cheese
