2020 François Chidaine Montlouis-sur-Loire Clos du Breuil

Community Tasting Notes (7) Avg Score: 90.8 points

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  4/12/2024 - coremill wrote: 88 Points

  Ordered off a restaurant list, where it was served too cold. That said, this didn't impress me. Noticeably ripe for a sec, more in the peachy spectrum, lacking definition and structure, just a hint of alcohol showing. Tasty for its fruit but I would have liked to see more than that.

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  11/4/2023 - philmtl Likes this wine:

  Yummy! Straight as an arrow but so much stuffing behind it! Citrus rind and citrus juice, hay, hints of honeycomb and long mineral finish. This is lovely as is but you can feel it could evolve into something entirely different on honeycomb, herbs and quince. Good vintage for this.

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  9/28/2023 - Bob H wrote:

  My last bottle, and the previous time I had this was last November. Going from my prior note, much better today. The wine has tightened up quite a bit in the interim. Fresh, crisp nose, and refreshing on the palate. Kind of bummed that this is my last bottle, as this feels like it will age effortlessly.

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  4/28/2023 - forceberry wrote: 92 Points

  100% biodynamically farmed Chenin Blanc from the 60-yo Clos de Breuil, facing north-to-northwest. Fermented spontaneously and aged on the lees for six months in 620-liter demi-muids. No MLF. 14,5% alcohol, 3 g/l residual sugar.
  
  Pale lemon-yellow color. The nose feels still very youthful and grapey - almost primary - with aromas of citrus fruits, some hay, light extracted waxy tones, a little bit of spicy red apple, a candied hint of sweet primary fruit, a touch of cantaloupe and a whiff of alcohol. The wine feels juicy, broad and slightly oily on the palate with a full body and very ripe flavors of sweet Golden Delicious apple, some cantaloupe, light honeyed tones, a little bit of leesy creaminess, a hint of saline minerality and a touch of ripe Meyer lemon. The overall feel is quite big - even substantial for a Chenin - but the high acidity is sufficient to give the wine good sense of freshness and structure. The finish is rich, ripe and juicy with still very youthful flavors of cantaloupe, some saline mineral tones, a little bit of honeyed richness, light candied primary fruit flavors, a mineral hint of wet rocks and a touch of creamy oak.
  
  Although a noticeably ripe and even quite substantial effort for a Loire Chenin, this is still a surprisingly sophisticated and balanced effort. At the moment the overall feel is still somewhat dominated by the sweet, estery fermentation flavors, lending the wine a somewhat candied primary feel, but you can taste that the pieces are there - they just need more time to fit into right places. Although the wine shows breadth, power and weight, this bottling isn't still as substantial - fat, even - as 2020 Les Bournais, which was impressive in its own right, but not necessarily as balanced as this one. I feel this could be a very lovely wine once it drops some of that baby fat. Good value at 24,80€.

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  11/18/2022 - Bob H wrote:

  My first time trying the ‘20 vintage from Chidaine and I’m liking this. This is a little bigger than I would have expected - makes me wonder what the Les Bournais is like in this vintage. There is a bit of acerbity on the finish that might be a slight distraction for some tasters, but overall, a very drinkable wine.

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