2022 Thibaud Boudignon, Savennières “Clos de la Hutte” Loire Valley, France.
Thibaud Boudignon’s rare Clos de la Hutte Savennières, again really impresses, and is an outstanding dry geeky cool Chenin Blanc with loads of tension, stony character and brilliant details. This wine, pale greenish gold hued in the glass, shows off classic terroir influenced flavors that burst on the lighter framed and crisp palate, with Asian pear, crisp peach, green apple, muskmelon and lemony citrus leading the way with hints of hazelnut, wet flinty rock, seashore, delicate florals, spring mint notes and clove spice. (he) Non Malo-lactic zingy acidity really stands out in Thibaud Boudignon’s excellent offerings and I really admired the set of Savennières, which competes well with some of the most desirable whites in the old world and, as noted before, will appeal to Chablis fans. This all biodynamic Clos de la Hutte, site of a former monastery, is set on pure Schist and to promote transparency Boudignon used just about15% new oak, choosing 50% 350L and 50% 500L barrels here. This wine enjoys being paired with soft cheeses, light poultry dishes, trout and can be sublimely matched up 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 organic 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 in farming and cellar methods, 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, as seen here in the Clos de la Hutte, as well as some chalky limestone and clay soils, with an eye on preserving extreme vibrancy. I usually mainly focus on the more approachable Anjou bottlings, with the Blanc and Rosé being favorites, but this is very special terroir driven stuff, which should age nicely for another decade.
($95 Est.) 95 Points, grapelive