Clos Chapon - 2016 Vouvray chenin blanc

You may have seen today's wine on a menu somewhere and wondered, what the heck is "Vouvray"? Well, Vouvray isn't a grape - it's a village in France, located in the Touraine district near the city of Tours, in the famed Loire Valley. Vourvray enjoys its own AOP, or Appellation d’Origine Protégée. According to WineFolly.com, Appellation d’Origine Protégée  is a system of classification of French wines, first developed in 1936 by Baron Pierre Le Roy who also founded the regulatory board for wine in France (called INAO). AOP is essentially a hierarchical system of rules and regulations that determine where the wines are produced, what they are made of and their level of quality. Apparently, the more specific the region is, the higher the rank.

Vouvray is, however, also a general term used to describe wines made in the vicinity, and like all wines that bear the name, today's wine is of 100% chenin blanc. Chenin blanc is a white grape and rather nice - I've had it many times. It's common in France, but the colonial Dutch were so enamored with it that now it's actually one of the most prolific grapes in South Africa (Indaba makes a tasty bottle, which we sell at D'Vines - 2 for $20.)

So on to the main attraction - today's Vouvray is produced in the Clos Chapon vineyard, a small hilltop plot in Vouvray. Note - this bottle says "sec" - dry, in French - and is the driest of the Vouvrays (Vouvray follows a similar sweetness scale as Champagne, as explained in my August 2018 post.) I grabbed this at Total Wine in Manchester, CT, for $17.99.

Pours a pale gold color, quite pretty. On the nose, I'm getting intense fruit - pear, peaches, nectarines.

Ah, very nice. So what's most striking about this is the full floral flavors - probably the floweriest wine I have had. There's not much minerality at all, and instead presents flavors of white flowers, peach, pear, and a touch of fresh dates (think the kind that come drenched in honey.) There's no oak, no tang, just soft, sweet flavor. The finish is refreshing and lush and the aftertaste is of pulpy peach.

In general, I love wines from the Loire Valley - it's a huge region with lots of different types of wine, including some awesome sauvignon blanc - however, quite the contrast from this Vouvray. We paired this with hot Indian curry, and I felt the sweetness and floral nature of the wine contrasted nicely with the masala. Additionally, this wine would be great for someone who may want to stray away from the oaked Chardonnays and would like a fruitier, more floral wine that won't break the bank.