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NICOLAS REAU Attention Chenin Merchant
NICOLAS REAU Attention Chenin Merchant
Regular price
$32.00 USD
Regular price
Sale price
$32.00 USD
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From the chalky, silty soils of Anjou in France's Loire Valley, Nicolas Réau's Attention Chenin Méchant—a cheeky "Vin de France" white that translates to "Beware of the Nasty Chenin" as a playful riff on the classic "Attention Chien Méchant" warning sign—is a bone-dry, low-intervention Chenin Blanc sourced as a négociant project from two organic parcels tended by Réau's former intern near the village of Cersay, close to his own Clos des Treilles estate. A former jazz and blues pianist who traded scales for secateurs at 22 after studies in Montreuil-Bellay and Bordeaux, Nicolas married into the natural wine world with Sylvie Augereau, co-founder of the La Dive festival, and now farms 5.5 hectares of Cabernet Franc and Chenin Blanc biodynamically on tuffeau limestone, embracing wild yeasts, minimal sulfur, and holistic vineyard care influenced by lunar cycles. For this merchant cuvée, hand-harvested Chenin vines (Guyot simple-trained, facing northwest/southeast at 85 meters elevation on clay-limestone) undergo wild-yeast fermentation without temperature control in a mix of stainless steel and old oak barrels (228L and 500L demi-muids) for 3–5 weeks, followed by a year of lees aging in neutral oak—unfined, lightly filtered, with just a whisper of sulfur at bottling—for a hazy, electric expression at 11.5% ABV that captures Anjou's racy minerality and continental snap.Pale straw-gold in the glass with a subtle haze and bright glint, it springs forth with an aromatic rush of zesty lemon, lime, and orange peel, laced with green apple, white pear, and a chalky floral whisper of honeysuckle and straw, all grounded by flinty, saline earth from the silty terroir. On the palate, it's light, lean, and electrifying—crisp and crunchy with piercing acidity, juicy white-fleshed fruits, a lactic creaminess, and profound chalky tension that builds to a salty, almost astringent finish, refreshingly austere yet profoundly pure. Dive in now through 2028, served well-chilled (8–10°C) alongside fresh oysters, goat cheese salads, creamy seafood like scallops, or as a zingy aperitif—this is Loire Chenin's wild-hearted merchant secret, proving Nicolas's renegade touch turns humble purchases into thrilling, unpretentious gems of glacial clarity and soulful depth.
