François Chidaine Blinding Light: Biodynamic Vouvray & Montlouis

**Producteur de trés grande qualité Le Classement 2013 (The highest rated producer in Montlouis)

“You have to look to the historical collections of regional leaders Foreau and Huet to find comparable consistently high quality, making it clear that Chidaine is one of the world's finest craftsmen in the medium of white wine, not to mention a continuing source of amazing value.”
David Schildknecht, The Wine Advocate

“François Chidaine is one of my favorite winemakers in the world. There are times when I can imagine drinking only his wines for the rest of my life.” Peter Liem, peterliem.com



Like so many other small growers in France, Chidaine has managed to make very little wine in 2012. Following the combined distresses of frost, difficult flowering, hail storms, coulure, millerandage, and so on, Chidaine cropped at a ridiculously low 12 hl/ha. Such is the life of a French vigneron. What scant offering there is however is more than repaid in quality. Even better, the pure, limpid and textured 2012s are joined by a small reservation of 2010 and 2009 wines. The words twenty-ten and Chidaine will be music to the ears of many and these truly exceptional white wines do not disappoint. Lastly our second tranche of Chidaine’s off-dry and moelleux cuvées are also now available.

After all the difficulties of 2012, Chidaine’s Montlouis and Vouvray vineyards were lashed by hail in 2013, wiping out much of the crop. We counsel fans of this grower to purchase what they can now— our allocation of 2013 wines looks certain to be miniscule.