Somehow, despite being home to culty, sought-after estates like Clos Rougeard and Domaine Guiberteau, Saumur has yet to fully break into the mainstream. But the simple fact is that a wine like Château de Chaintre’s “Les Genêts” is just too good not to be in every wine geek’s glass.

I’m a Chenin fanatic and love it in every guise, from oxidative and funky to honeyed and dessert-sweet, but today’s Saumur Blanc may just be my favorite version of the grape: bone-dry, clean, and mineral-laced, with delicious textures that acrobatically balance on piano-wire acidity. I strongly believe this is the Chenin style that will initiate a mass movement towards Saumur, so grab some wildly undervalued “Les Genêts,” and enjoy it frequently until that day comes. Once it does, we can all shout “I told you so!” in unison.

The lifeblood of Saumur is its famed tuffeau soil, a yellowish limestone imbuing the appellation’s best sites with razor-sharp minerality. In fact, tuffeau is the literal foundation of Château de Chaintres: the estate itself is made of the stuff, and blocks of it enclose the single 15-hectare clos responsible for all of Chaintre’s production. The wall surrounding this gently sloping, south-facing parcel was built in the 17th century by monks, after they singled the site out for its favorable positioning. When the current owners, the de Tigny family, took over the property in 1938, they revived viticulture at the estate and replanted the clos. Thanks to their care for the site, the average vine age in “Les Genêts” now reaches past 50 years, imbuing it with a density and weight Chenin Blanc can sometimes lack.

More exciting than Chaintre’s past, though, is its future: 2018 marked a turning point for the estate, as they brought on cellarmaster Jean-Philippe Louis, who was long responsible for some of the most thrilling wines in Menetou-Salon to the east. Although already Certified Organic at the time, Jean-Philippe elevated things to full-fledged biodynamics and has brought a more delicate and refined touch to the cellar work. Fermentations now proceed spontaneously, filtration happens only when absolutely necessary, and sulfur additions are very low.  “Les Genêts” was aged entirely in stainless steel, and received just the slightest touch of sulfur at bottling. The 2020 vintage was the first where Jean-Philippe was in full control from the vineyards to the cellar, and the results are stunning: a new level of detail and precision, the tuffeau energy ringing through the wine louder than ever before. As fantastic as this bottle is, we expect even higher levels of greatness from Chaintres in the years to come!

If your idea of Chenin is a rustic and bruised-fruit beast, “Les Genêts” will convince you otherwise. In the glass, the nose soars with blasted rock, oyster shell, crunchy green apple fruit, and an edge of fresh-peeled lemon. There’s a faint white stone fruit richness underlying the top notes, but this is all about freshness and verve on the nose. The palate brings all the acid and crushed rock minerality the nose leads you to expect, but marries it to a medium-plus body, only reinforcing the sense of stony impact. White florals like apple blossom and honeysuckle come through, and a zip of fresh orchard fruit closes out the energetic finish. This is just so pure and transparent, refreshing yet deeply complex, ticking every elite mineral white box we can imagine. Served in all-purpose stems around 50 degrees, this will stun with black sea bass or branzino with a simple beurre blanc sauce. Delicious now, we don’t doubt this has the capacity to go a decade in the cellar. And we recommend stocking up as soon as you can because these wines won’t always remain affordable!