Chinon! This name alone evokes a discreet nobility and a delicate, quintessentially Loire spirit. Across nearly 2,300 hectares of hillsides and plains stretching around Rabelais's city, the soul of Cabernet Franc flourishes—the sole grape variety for the reds and rosés, whose dark berries lend the wine nuances of ripe fruit, violet, and sometimes forest floor after some time in the cellar.
The Chenin Blanc, more rare—scarcely a few dozen hectares—unfolds with a luminous grace, between white flowers and light honey. The diversity of the soils, at times gravelly, at others clay-limestone, gives each vintage a unique accent, oscillating between liveliness and velvet.