2023 Thibaud Boudignon, Savennières “Clos de Frémine” Loire Valley, France.
Racy bright, pale gold, mineral driven and electric in the glass, Thibaud Boudignon’s brilliant and rare Clos de Frémine Savennières really impresses and is a fabulous dry Chenin Blanc with loads of tension, stony character and brilliant details. Classic terroir influence flavors burst on the lighter framed and crisp palate with Asian pear, peach, green apple and zesty citrus leading the way with hints of hazelnut, wet flinty rock, saline, delicate florals, light fennel/herb notes and clove spice. Non Malo-lactic zingy acidity really stands out in Thibaud Boudignon’s excellent offerings and I really admired the set of Savennières, especially this one, which competes with some of the most desirable whites in the old world and will appeal to Chablis fans. This Clos de Frémine is set on pure Schist and to promote transparency Boudignon used just 10% new oak, choosing 350L and 500L barrels here. This wine enjoys being paired with soft cheeses and can be sublimely used with raw oysters too.
These Thibaud Boudignon wines are thrilling, but with a cult like following, and as mentioned in my prior reviews, they are almost impossible to find on wine shop shelves, so it is always exciting to get a chance to try new releases of his Anjou Blanc and the limited Savennières bottlings, which is, as seen before, are wonderfully dry expressions of Chenin Blanc from the Loire Valley region. The charismatic and talented Thibaud Boudignon, founded his own label in 2009, as noted previously, is all biodynamic and uses only native (indigenous) yeasts for his whites and no malo, but can use between 20% and 30% new oak, with 228L, 350L and 700L size barrels employed across his collection. Again as noted before, The ex-Bordeaux native, Thibaud Boudignon, who’s already a wine geek and Chenin hero, typically ferments his wines with all de-stemmed grapes, using natural yeasts, from all biodynamic vines on mainly schist, chalky limestone and clay soils, with an eye on preserving extreme vibrancy. I usually mainly focus on the Anjou bottlings, with the Blanc and Rosé being favorites.
($60 Est.) 94 Points, grapelive