TN: 2017 Francois Chidaine Les Bournais

Marcus_Goodfellow · November 28, 2021, 5:37pm

We opened this last night, and it was just a lovely wine. Still bright and youthful, but starting to round off the hard edges. On PnP it was really pretty, lots of ripe apples and pears, as well as pear and apple blossoms, not effusive but still expressive. Underneath the fruits were some nice subtle notes of dough, smoke, almonds, and caramel, balanced against a nice steeliness. The palate is texturally rounded but fresh and bright, green apple, seawater, under ripe pineapple(in a good way), mandarins, and lemon zest with refreshing but not tart acidity. It’s a very well done wine, and one that I am glad we checked in on now. This wine seems like it has no real urgency to open now, but also no real demand for years of cellaring. I have 2 more bottles and will probably drink them in the next 3-5 years.

ChrisJames · November 28, 2021, 6:05pm

We opened this last night, and it was just a lovely wine. Still bright and youthful, but starting to round off the hard edges. On PnP it was really pretty, lots of ripe apples and pears, as well as pear and apple blossoms, not effusive but still expressive. Underneath the fruits were some nice subtle notes of dough, smoke, almonds, and caramel, balanced against a nice steeliness. The palate is texturally rounded but fresh and bright, green apple, seawater, under ripe pineapple(in a good way), mandarins, and lemon zest with refreshing but not tart acidity. It’s a very well done wine, and one that I am glad we checked in on now. This wine seems like it has no real urgency to open now, but also no real demand for years of cellaring. I have 2 more bottles and will probably drink them in the next 3-5 years.

That sounds so good. I’ve yet to try a Chidaine, but I jumped on some 2019 Les Choisilles as a result of descriptions such as this.

Marcus_Goodfellow · November 28, 2021, 6:11pm

We opened this last night, and it was just a lovely wine. Still bright and youthful, but starting to round off the hard edges. On PnP it was really pretty, lots of ripe apples and pears, as well as pear and apple blossoms, not effusive but still expressive. Underneath the fruits were some nice subtle notes of dough, smoke, almonds, and caramel, balanced against a nice steeliness. The palate is texturally rounded but fresh and bright, green apple, seawater, under ripe pineapple(in a good way), mandarins, and lemon zest with refreshing but not tart acidity. It’s a very well done wine, and one that I am glad we checked in on now. This wine seems like it has no real urgency to open now, but also no real demand for years of cellaring. I have 2 more bottles and will probably drink them in the next 3-5 years.

That sounds so good. I’ve yet to try a Chidaine, but I jumped on some 2019 Les Choisilles as a result of descriptions such as this.

I’ve enjoyed the wines quite a bit since the 1990 vintage, and the wines are often really lovely. They usually do not have the lightning rod acidity of Savenierres, but the dry wines are generally quite taut on release. The off-dry bottles, Clos Halbert is a favorite, I tend to drink on the early side as I like the energy better in youth.

ChrisJames · November 28, 2021, 6:16pm

We opened this last night, and it was just a lovely wine. Still bright and youthful, but starting to round off the hard edges. On PnP it was really pretty, lots of ripe apples and pears, as well as pear and apple blossoms, not effusive but still expressive. Underneath the fruits were some nice subtle notes of dough, smoke, almonds, and caramel, balanced against a nice steeliness. The palate is texturally rounded but fresh and bright, green apple, seawater, under ripe pineapple(in a good way), mandarins, and lemon zest with refreshing but not tart acidity. It’s a very well done wine, and one that I am glad we checked in on now. This wine seems like it has no real urgency to open now, but also no real demand for years of cellaring. I have 2 more bottles and will probably drink them in the next 3-5 years.

That sounds so good. I’ve yet to try a Chidaine, but I jumped on some 2019 Les Choisilles as a result of descriptions such as this.

I’ve enjoyed the wines quite a bit since the 1990 vintage, and the wines are often really lovely. They usually do not have the lightning rod acidity of Savenierres, but the dry wines are generally quite taut on release. The off-dry bottles, Clos Halbert is a favorite, I tend to drink on the early side as I like the energy better in youth.

Bumpkin that I am, I tend to drink all of my whites on the early side!

G_Greenbaum · November 29, 2021, 2:51am

Thanks for the note. I have the 2015 poised for dinner soon. The Bournais and Habert are usually my two favorites in the strong lineup. Really terrific juice.

Troy_Stark · November 29, 2021, 3:22pm

We opened this last night, and it was just a lovely wine. Still bright and youthful, but starting to round off the hard edges. On PnP it was really pretty, lots of ripe apples and pears, as well as pear and apple blossoms, not effusive but still expressive. Underneath the fruits were some nice subtle notes of dough, smoke, almonds, and caramel, balanced against a nice steeliness. The palate is texturally rounded but fresh and bright, green apple, seawater, under ripe pineapple(in a good way), mandarins, and lemon zest with refreshing but not tart acidity. It’s a very well done wine, and one that I am glad we checked in on now. This wine seems like it has no real urgency to open now, but also no real demand for years of cellaring. I have 2 more bottles and will probably drink them in the next 3-5 years.

That sounds so good. I’ve yet to try a Chidaine, but I jumped on some 2019 Les Choisilles as a result of descriptions such as this.

You won’t be disappointed. Just popped one of them last week and it was on fire. Excellent wine.

Over the last couple of years, Chidaine has taken the #1 spot on our list of best Loire Chenin producers.