Chenin Blanc is sometimes referred to as the “chameleon” grape. Like the lizard changes colors, Chenin Blanc can also fool us, displaying multiple personalities. This quirky ability, however, is not a disorder—it is Chenin’s greatest asset!
From the full-speed, mineral crunch of Saumur to the accordion of dry-to-sweet styles in Vouvray, to the textural richness and deep, poached-quince fruit of Savennières, Chenin constantly delights and always has us on our toes. Today’s wine brings us to a full stop, in a little place called La Pommeraye, a unique warm microclimate just south of the Loire River in the broad region of Anjou. Wine law is tedious, sometimes archaic and unfortunate, and little places with precious vineyards get lost in the shuffle, like an ace of spades in a thick stack of appellations. As in other Loire Valley appellations, “Anjou Blanc” can mean a variety of things, but in this case, it means laser-focused, sublimely mineral Chenin Blanc at its dry, thirst-quenching best. Man is this good!
Musset-Roullier began on a bench in a primary school in La Pommeraye. Gilles Musset met Serge Roullier 60 years ago. Both sons of winegrowers, they immediately connected and would grow up to become winegrowers themselves. Serge helmed his father’s estate (Domaine du Pélican) while Gilles founded Domaine du Chaumier with his mother. It’s slipped into a black hole of wine history, but the 1991 frost in France was real and devastating. Gilles and Serge suffered monumental losses in their vineyards, and the idea of working together became clairvoyant. Joining forces was a logical decision, a smartly financial one, but it was also a natural progression from the trenches of deep camaraderie. So, when their parents retired, Gilles and Serge, along with Gilles’ wife, formed Vignoble Musset-Roullier with the mission of making better wines than their parents.
Together they pushed the boundaries of complexity, making more refined, precise wines—uncovering, as they say, “the real gems” of Anjou. Today, farming sustainably and organically, their collection of vines (36 hectares) extends along a fault line of the Armorican Massif. This immense geological series of compact fault lines spread into Brittany, western Normandy, and loosely connects to the white cliffs of Dover. Thanks to these dips and cracks in the earth’s crust, a mix of soil types emerged in La Pommeraye: green and blue schists; grey and blue limestones; gravels, sands, and shells. Close to the Loire River, the vines also benefit from water’s remarkable ability to absorb and release heat, making colder vintages a little less cold and hotter vintages a little less hot. Chenin from here, from this land that was once an apple orchard, is truly unique, a rubber-band ball of tangy fruit and deep minerality.
For just $22 a bottle, today’s 2017 buries the sea of mediocre Vouvray that overwhelms the “Loire Valley” shelves in most stores. Selected from two older vineyard parcels averaging 30 years of age, the wine is made with natural yeasts, in tank, and without malolactic fermentation to retain every morsel of freshness. From there, the wine is aged on its fine lees until spring and bottled with a minimal dose of sulfur.
Out of the bottle, Musset-Roullier’s “Le Moulin de Chateaupanne” is vibrant, fun, and electrifying. In the glass, a straw core softens into a watery rim and shimmers with hints of green and white gold. This isn’t a honeyed, bruised-apple type of Chenin Blanc; the wine has less oxidative nutty tones and more fresh ones, like lime blossom and acacia, lemon zest, and hard yellow apple. There’s a light creamy note from the lees contact, but it doesn’t cover fruit. The mineral notes are high: sea salt, fresh rain, and limey rocks, while the acidity bounces but is nicely balanced and grounded by the texture of the mid-palate. Ultimately, the finish is juicy and quenching, exactly the type of wine I want to enjoy with something gently fried but not heavy and preferably eaten outside. Saganaki is a category of Greek cuisine that refers to small items cooked in a heavy-bottomed frying pan. It is commonly made using cheese (like Graviera, Kefalograviera, or Kessari). The hardest part is finding the cheese and having the right type of pan, but the rest is so easy. We know Greece makes excellent white wines and France has some “not so bad” recipes, but who says wine and food must always speak the same language? With Chenin Blanc, the world’s door is open, so have some fun like Gilles and Serge—alter the course and do better! Cheers!
