Herve Villemade Cour-Cheverny Romorantin 'Les Chataigniers' 2020

Press 4 White • October 2024 Direct Press Selection 

Herve Villemade's path to organic farming and zero sulfur wines was inspired by discovering Marcel Lapierre and Tue Boeuf's wines; and that he had an allergy to sulfur. To make sulfur-free wines he needed his grapes to be super healthy, so he converted his family's vineyards to organic methods in 2000. Since then he's developed a reptuation for making some of the most reliably delicious, affordable natural wines in the Loire Valley.

Many are familiar with Herve's slammingly delcious liter of Gamay called "Bovin" with a cartoon cow on the label — but he also makes some very profound wines that manage to retain a playful, warm-hearted countenance. Such is the case with the "Les Chataigniers," one of his Cour-Cheverny bottlings. Cour-Cheverny by law must be 100% Romorantin, making it one of the more obscure appellations in France. Romorantin, to me, mixes elements of Chenin's honeyed complexity with the spicy power of Timorasso or Savagnin. This can be tricky to reign in, but Villemade's touch makes this graceful where others can be hot and unwieldy. Here, notes of honeysuckle, salty preserved lemon, nutmeg, and ginger sit on top of healthy, plush fruit. Pair with roast chicken, cod with beurre blanc, grilled asparagus, or dishes that lean richer, heartier, and more complex. Jonathan Kemp