Pretty sure this is a misprint on the label.
The Raffault website clearly says this cuvee is chenin.
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Thank you. So, that settles it, doesnât it? The website info from the producer must be accurate, right? Either the importer must have included wrong info or itâs a misprint by the producer.
Got the chance to sample more Loire white wine this weekend.
2021 Claude Riffault Sancerre Les Chailloux
https://www.cellartracker.com/mynotes.asp?iWine=4461393&searchId=6F34153B%23selected%253DW4461393_1_K01dc9ddf912b33afe62bebd18a731fb0
I enjoyed this a lot!
Turns out it was a CF blanc - I did not know that that existed
This is certainly a labeling mistake. Champ-Chenin is 100% chenin, other labels on other vintages say chenin, and the Chinon AOC only allows chenin for white wines.
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Interesting note: âBest SB hands down that I had so far. No boring grassy typicityâŚâ
And maybe reveals your prospects for enjoying Loire SB, if your favorite one tastes nothing like Loire SB!
Itâs been a while since Iâve had Riffault. But yes, the wines are certainly very interesting and distinctive, a unique ripe natural expression that speaks less of the grape/region.
@Jonathan_Jetter thank you. Iâll reach out to the restaurant, so they can get back to the importer.
@Rahsaan_M I guess best SB doesnât mean much since I only had one other Loire SB so far (2022 Domaine Henry PellĂŠ Menetou-Salon Morogues, which was good as well btw but didnât wow me) and 7 other SBs from other regions (according to my CT notes). I just really enjoyed the nutty/smoky nose + the laser sharp acidity of this Riffault. Iâll keep you posted abt my future Loire SB tasting experiences, though. I think I need more experience to make any conclusions about whether I like the region/grape variety or not.
They (used to?) do a fair amount of library releases.
Our shop ran the '98 & 99 about 5 years ago (edit: Chinon Picasses) â terribly high return rate with soaked and/or disintegrating corks, and bretty or bretty-adjacent wines.
I suspect like they are one of those high-risk high-reward producers.
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In my favorite years (89 + 90 of course, but also IMO 78 and 07 and 14), their Les Picasses can be transcendent. Among the best Loire cab francs Iâve ever had.
The whites are a strange beast- I had an '82 a few years ago that felt impossibly young, like it hadnât budged at all. Not sure if it was sulfur or what, but it definitely still read as too young. Only other chenin that ever read the same way for me was an '89 Robert Denis last year.
The other chenin, the one w/ the new oak, Lâor dâOlga (Or maybe itâs Chenin des Picasses now?), I find more approachable/understandable, even though itâs a heavier and oakier wine.
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Producer just got back to me. Printer error - itâs a CB.
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Purchased a sixer containing these wines:
2023 Château de Plaisance Anjou Blanc
2023 Château Yvonne Saumur Blanc
2022 Domaine Huet Vouvray Demi-Sec Le Mont
2022 Claude Riffault Sancerre Mosaique Calcaire
2023 Alphonse Mellot Sancerre La Moussière
2019 Château du Coing de Saint Fiacre Muscadet de Sèvre-et-Maine Monnières-Saint-Fiacre
Itâs only six white wines (2 SB, 3 CB, 1 Muscadet), so I plan to follow up with some red CF and another Muscadet and something properly sweet (CB) sometime, but itâs a start!
Thanks for the advice guys, really excited to sample these.