2013 Saumur Blanc Clos de L'Echelier
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Tasting notes
The 2013 Saumur Blanc L’Échelier is full of rich, maturing flavors of honey apple strudel. Bone-dry, taut and firm in acidity, this is an uncompromising, structured expression. A relatively early harvest gave this wine a real punch, but a little more length would be great. Hunter Valley Sémillon fans should seek this out.
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Jancis Robinson MW
Stephan Reinhardt, Wine Advocate
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From a mass selection of 6,500 Chenin vines per hectare on calcareous loam soils in Dampierre sur Loire, the 2013 Saumur Blanc Clos de l'Èchelier fermented for three months in 600-liter oval barrels and aged on its fine lees for another nine months. Intense yellow in color, it attracts with a lovely blend of chalk and ripe fruit aromas on the nose. Full-bodied, rich and ripe on the palate, this is a very juicy, fresh, elegant and well-balanced Chenin with a delicate, less demanding minerality than the Clos Romans, making the wine more accessible. Though the finish is still slightly yeasty, the long aftertaste displays tropical fruit aromas, ripe quince and honeydew. Only a few hundred bottles produced.