Philippe Foreau "Vouvray Moelleux" Loire Valley, France 2015

FROM ROSENTHAL:

THE WINE: 100% Chenin Blanc. The Moelleux cuvées are made in vintages when at least a portion of the vineyards produce grapes that carry significant levels of natural sugar. Botrytis sometimes occurs but it is not necessary in order to declare a Moelleux. Conditions of “passerillage”, that is extended exposure of the grapes to sun and high luminosity, create the impetus to release wines as Moelleux. Wines so declared can carry formidable leves of residual sugar: 25 grams is perhaps the minimum but more often the Moelleux at the Foreau domaine has 35 or 50 or sometimes even 80 or 90 grams of sugar left in the wine. The goal is to create a wine that is in perfect balance, maintaining a proper level of acidity while keeping the ultimate alcohol level under control.

THE PRODUCER: Philippe Foreau is the third generation of the Foreau family to produce Vouvray from this fabled domaine which his grandfather purchased in 1923. Philippe assumed the direction of the domaine in 1983 upon the retirement of his father, Andre. Since 2015, Philippe works alongside his son Vincent, who continues the family's tradition of crafting some of the greatest white wines anywhere. The domaine consists of 11 1/2 hectares planted to Chenin Blanc, located in the northeast corner of Vouvray, sited mid-hill with 100% south/southeast/southwest exposures. The principal vineyards are known as "Les Perruches" and "Les Ruettes". The estate's cellar was dug by hand out of the zone's classic tuffeau limestone during Philippe's grandfather's time. Its raw walls, lit sparingly by the occasional hanging bulb, speak viscerally of the local terroir. Barriques blackened and weathered by time-the Foreaus use them for 20 or 30 years-flank the cave's tunnels, and one marvels that such pure wines are birthed in such humble vessels. The entire operation, in fact, is a powerful reminder that technology is not required to make great wine.