Grosbois Chinon Clos du Noyer 2017

“The 2017 Chinon Clos du Noyer is pure and floral as well as chalky on the aromatic nose. Highly elegant on the palate, this is a tightly woven Chinon with great clarity and expression. It has a fleshy, chalky structure and a serious finish. Fermented and aged in concrete tanks, this is the best wine I have tasted from Nicolas Grosbois thus far. A promising, great Chinon. Drink: 2022-2037. 93 points

Back from 10 years of traveling and working in Minervois, Saumur Champigny, Chile (Maipo Valley), Oregon, Australia (Hunter Valley), New Zealand and India since 2006, Nicolas Grosbois took the lead over this charismatic domaine in Ponzoult (AOP Chinon), which has existed for more than 500 years and cultivates not only 15 hectares of vines on diverse soils with shallow and deep layers of sandy clay but also 25 hectares of cereals and 10 hectares of grassland. Cabernet Franc gives the best results on these millarge soils, which are made up of a soft, very sandy sea sediment that warms up quickly and enables Cabernet Franc to ripen steadily to full ripeness. It took Nicolas 10 years of experimenting in the vineyard and in the cellar to find his path, which led to the production of generous but elegant Cabernet Francs. The finest wine is from the Clos du Noyer, a cru with soils only 40 centimeters deep covering the bedrock that balances the power and vigorous character of the vines that benefit from the nearby forest and never come into stress situations. There are 6,000-8,000 bottles filled of the Clos per year, whereas the quantitatively even more important Gabare fills 25,000-28,000 bottles every year. Following the vertical of the Clos du Noyer showed the development of this domaine impressively (from more extraction and the usage of oak to less extraction and the vinification in concrete), with highlights in 2015 and 2017.”

Stephan Reinhardt, Wine Advocate (08/21)