Domaine de Belliviere Coteaux du Loir “Premices” 2023 750ml

100% Chenin Blanc. Certified-biodynamic Bellivière owns and farms 18 hectares across 60 parcels in 5 villages in the Jasnières and Coteaux-du-Loir appellations in this northernmost part of the Touraine. “Prémices” is a selection of the most fruit-forward, younger-vine barrels and is the first release in any given vintage. The fruit comes from vines ranging from 10-40 years old, planted on variations on flinty clay soils over tuffeau (soft limestone). Harvest is by hand. The bunches are direct-pressed into tank, where the juice settles overnight; it is moved by gravity into barrel and ferments with native yeasts and minimal sulfur. The wine goes through malo and ages in barrel for about a year. There is usually residual sugar, as fermentation is never pushed and stops short of dryness in this cool cellar and clime. The 2022 Prémices finished at a sec-tendre level of sweetness with 10 grams/liter of residual sugar (and 3.82 grams/liter of acidity). Starting in 2022, the wine is labeled as appellation Coteaux du Loir instead of Jasnières because it is now a combination of the two in order to give the winery more flexibility in difficult vintages.