2020 Francois Chidaine Montlouis Sec ‘ Les Bournais’, Loire, France

On a limestone plateau overlooking the Loire river sit Les Bournais, a vineyard Chidaine refers to as “a magical place”. It had been abandoned for some time, but Chidaine was convinced that it was one of the very best sites in Montlouis, and planted vines here in 1999. Unlike most of Montlouis, which is on clay and silex, or flint, Bournais lies on clay and limestone, and the name Bournais refers to the particular type of limestone found here. Chidaines goal is to vinify this dry, barring the occasional aberration such as 2005, and the result is a powerful, full-bodied wine, probably the closest to Vouvray in profile of all Chidaines Montlouis wines.