Chateau Yvonne, Le Gory Saumur Blanc 2021

100% Chenin Blanc 

Loire Valley, France

Biodynamic & certified organic. Le Gory is Yvonne’s top white wine, hailing from a parcel within La Côte that allows Chenin Blanc to develop complexity and depth—its terroir of nutrient-rich red clay, sandstone, and limestone provide what Chenin Blanc needs to achieve full ripeness while maintaining lively acidity. Château Yvonne only produces two-three barrels of Le Gory each year; Matthieu purchases new barrels for this cuvée each vintage. It follows the same élevage as the regular Saumur Blanc but is then held back for an additional year of bottle age.

Hand-harvested in small bins. 3 hours of pressurage, then settling for 1-2 nights in tank. Native yeast fermentation in barrel until Spring. Elevage 12 months in barrel (30% new), then assembled for 3 months “en masse” in tank before bottling. No batonnage. Bottled unfined and unfiltered, on a fruit day during the Ascendant Moon. Annual Production: 1,000 bottles. VEGAN

The Yvonne estate itself is a special one, for those who don’t know it well: a history dating from the 16th century, when the château was built by the monks at the Abbaye de Fontevraud; winemaking beginning there in the early 1800s. In 1997, Yvonne and Jean-François Lamunière decided to recreate the abandoned vineyard with the help of Françoise Foucault. In 2007, Matthieu Vallée took over and decided to keep the name Chateau Yvonne in hommage to the incredible work done by the previous owners. Today the domaine is one of the best producers in Saumur, composed of 3 hectares of Chenin Blanc and 8 hectares of Cabernet Franc, spread out over 28 small plots in three villages.  The vineyards have been farmed organically (Ecocert certified) since 1997 and biodynamically since 2012.  Yvonne’s production remains extremely low, averaging only 2000 cs annually. The dominant soils here are limestone and tuffeau stone but outcroppings of gravel and sandy clay give completely different expressions of Cabernet Franc and Chenin Blanc.