Christian Venier Les Hauts de Madon 2020
A seriously interesting Loire white from Christian Venier, one of Cheverny’s quietly brilliant natural wine growers. This is a blend of Sauvignon Blanc and Orbois, also known as Menu Pineau, with the Sauvignon bringing lift, citrus and energy, while the Orbois adds texture, savoury depth and a gentle waxy roundness.
This is not your standard zippy Sauvignon Blanc. There’s preserved lemon, green apple, white peach, grapefruit pith, fresh herbs and a little tropical lift, sitting alongside a more savoury, nutty and lightly oxidative edge. The palate has lovely tension, but also weight and grip, with flinty minerality and a dry, mouth-watering finish.
Christian Venier (Touraine, Loire Valley, FRA)
Christian Venier is one of the defining natural winegrowers of Cheverny, farming family vineyards in the Loire Valley that date back to the 17th century. After taking over 14 hectares of old vines on sandy clay, flint and silica-rich soils, he set about revitalising both the land and his family’s cellar, working organically with a deep respect for biodiversity. Christian hand-harvests, ferments with wild yeasts and vinifies whole-cluster across a mix of vessels—fiberglass, inox, cement and large old oak—bottling without fining or filtration and using little to no sulphur. His wines carry an easy, soulful energy: textural, slightly wild and deeply expressive of Cheverny’s unique terroir.
