Montlouis sur Loire Les Hauts de Husseau

Dry Chenin Blanc from the estate Jacky Blot founded in 1988 to drag Montlouis out of Vouvray's shadow, run since his death in May 2023 by his son Jean-Philippe.

Les Hauts de Husseau is a blend of five parcels around the Husseau hamlet in the northern part of the appellation - the highest ground of Montlouis. Vines are predominantly 70 to 90 years old (the oldest planted 1912), on thin flinty clay over tuffeau limestone close to the surface. Indigenous-yeast fermentation in barrel, 20% new oak with the balance spread across one- to four-wine barriques, and no malolactic - the Blot signature that keeps Chenin's acidity intact. The cuvée was renamed from "Rémus Plus" with the 2015 vintage.

2023 was a sorting-table vintage in Montlouis: a dry start, then a rain-soaked July through September with heavy rot pressure, and a sharp early-September heat spike - growers picked fast and selectively ahead of the heavy rain that arrived mid-month. Jean-Philippe Blot called it "a vintage of 20-30 years ago, when very careful selection of grapes was essential". Alcohols landed low across the appellation - this one at 12%, with 3 g/l of residual sugar per the import sticker.