2017 Chateau Moncontour Vouvray Sec 750 ml

New Discovery From Our Golden Goose

When we say we’ve “discovered a new wine,” we really mean that we have started a relationship with a new producer. This often means that, as long as the sun keeps shining and our relationship stays strong, we have opened the door to vintage after vintage of amazing wine—think of Chad, Anderson’s Conn Valley, and Three Wine Company. Château Moncontour is proving to be another kind of Golden Goose. We first tasted Moncontour’s impressive sparkling wines on a trip to France, and secured an allocation that was immediately claimed by our clients. Now, the 2017 Château Moncontour Vouvray Sec shows that the château’s magic touch is not limited to bubbly. Citrusy, bright, rich, bone dry, and registers at a beautifully restrained 11.7% alcohol, it is the kind of $17 still white wine you should always have chilled and ready: for seafood, for spicy dishes, or just for sipping on a hot day. EXCLUSIVE.

In Joel B. Payne’s article “Focus on Loire Valley Chenin Blanc” published on Vinous nearly four years ago, Payne pointed out plainly that, “The most well-known appellation for chenin blanc is certainly Vouvray.” Ask a Master Sommelier what his or her favorite under the radar white is, and we guarantee it’ll be Chenin Blanc. We can’t count how many times in the last decade that when we've said “Sommelier’s choice,” a Chenin Blanc would land on the table (regardless if it was on the list) during many a memorable night at the likes of Le Bernardin, Per Se, Jean-Georges, and even Gary Danko. Suffice it to say, it's more than grown on us.

Our first memorable glass of Château Moncontour came on a trip to France, although we were introduced to the estate via an article by Richard Hemming MW on Jancis Robinson MW’s website. He wrote of a trip to the Loire, and how the most hectic tasting sojourns are “worthwhile when you find wines that really hit the spot. And on that Friday morning in the Loire earlier this month, they were the Vouvrays of Château Moncontour.”

Neither we nor Hemming can really claim to have “discovered” Château Moncontour, an illustrious Loire Valley château that stands as one of the oldest in the region. The estate dates back to the fourth century, the cliffside caves were carved in the 10th, and the château itself was built in the 15th century. As long as Moncontour has existed, so have its admirers: The name of their vintage sparkling wine, “Cuvée Prédilection,” comes from the revered French writer Honoré de Balzac, who purportedly coveted the gorgeous Loire property and referred to it as his prédilection.”

The estate overlooks the Loire river, and stretches out over 300 acres, many of which are covered in vines that seem as meticulously tended as the château’s breathtaking gardens. The Chenin Blanc grapes are slowly pressed, then fermented in temperature-controlled tanks over the course of a month, with the wine tasted regularly. Fermentation is arrested at the precise moment when acidity and sugar are in perfect balance. The 2017 Vouvray Sec is citrusy, bright, rich, with such vibrant acid-cut that even at 7.7g/L it tastes absolutely bone dry, clocking in a  beautifully restrained 11.7% alcohol, perfect for sipping with dinner—or before having given dinner a thought.

Jonathan Cristaldi

Editor-in-Chief, Wine Access