The Vouvray vineyards rise upstream from the city of Tours along the Eastern* bank of the Loire River. The Gautier family has been farming and making Chenin Blanc from these clay-limestone soils for seven generations since 1669. Now Jean-Michel and his older brother Benoit have taken over the family business and work two separate 35 acre parcels while sharing the same Trogloditic caves for winemaking and aging that their great-great-great-great-grandfather began using over three centuries ago.
While the two men have always made their wines side by side, Jean-Michel (Domaine de la Racauderie) has recently begun to step out of his brother's shadow with some truly remarkable wines of his own. As with most Vouvray producers, Jean-Michel makes Chenin Blanc in the full range of styles from dry to sweet as well as sparkling. His wines are uniformly distinctive and offer a fantastic expression of the joys of Chenin Blanc at ridiculously reasonable prices for the quality and style they offer. While we adore him and his wines, we are fervently hoping that he doesn't notice what a bargain they are any time soon.
Jean-Michel is also very patient with us. From most proprietors you're seeing the arrival of the 2009 wines; this is as it should be for most but there are notable exceptions and Domaine de la Racauderie is one. The demi-sec wine from this estate is so gorgous after a few years in the bottle that we've conjolled Monsieur Gautier to let us ship the wines later. Jean-Michel flattered I think by our enthusiasm and reassured by years of us paying him on time lets us reserve his wines for later release. The recently arrived Domaine de la Racauderie Vouvray 2006 is a terrific example.
*I know, I know! The river is oriented east-west in the region so how can there be an "Eastern" bank? This is true for the broad Vouray appellation but rivers do meander. The Gautier property does lie on the more or less east shore of more or less north-south meander of the Loire.
Posted by Marcus Mansavage at 06/12/2010 02:40:23 PM