Domaine de la Taille aux Loup 'Triple Zero' Montlouis Pétillant NV

As Baloo the bear sang in The Jungle Book, sometimes you just need to ‘look for the bare necessities, the simple bare necessities’. This seems to have been the philosophy of Domaine de la Taille aux Loup, who let the grapes from their incredible Chenin Blanc vines do all the talking, without the addition of any sugar, and what do the vines say? They say ‘Hello, my name’s Chenin and I come from Montlouis. I make wine that is taut and finely-tuned, with intense floral flavours of citrus, minerals, white peach and apple blossom, overlaying a creamy, supple texture’. Slightly arrogant, but there you go.

In 1988, Jacky Blot set up this Domaine, attempting to drag the Montlouis appellation out of the shadows of its neighbour, Vouvray. Jacky is one of the world’s greatest exponents of the Chenin Blanc variety and his 12.5 hectares of vines are planted with nothing else.

Perhaps overshadowed by its neighbour Vouvray, Montlouis has the ability to produce some of the most exciting and delicious Chenin Blanc, from the totally dry to botrytised sweet examples. Montlouis wines are taut and minerally, with exceptional acidities and ability to age beautifully in bottle.

Jacky’s viticultural philosophy sees him working closely with nature; fertilisation is now an extinct practice on his vineyards, chemical treatments are practically non-existent and pruning is radically short, keeping yields down to an average of 25 hl/ha. At harvest time, picking is done by hand, successive tris are undertaken and a strict grape selection is carried out. The wines are then vinified in Bordeaux barriques, both new and old (depending on the particular cuvée) in cool, rock-hewn cellars. This is a Domaine that clearly demonstrates the potential Chenin has for producing some of the world’s great white wines.

Triple Zero is the cuvée that used to be Jacky's standard Pétillant Naturel. The title refers to the fact this cuvee is not chaptalized or dosed and contains no residual sugar. Essentially, it is as pure as Chenin gets; taut and finely-tuned, with intense floral flavours of citrus, minerals, white peach and apple blossom, overlaying a creamy, supple texture.