Clef de Sol

Montlouis faces Vouvray across the Loire, and all of its wine is white, from Chenin alone. Coralie and Damien Delecheneau call it a great terroir, and Clef de Sol is their homage to the pair: the place, and the grape that does it justice.

The name works twice. In French a clef de sol is a treble clef, and sol is also the soil. The domaine's own page for the cuvée is written as a musical score, complete with a first violin.

The vines are about 80 years old and face south. They grow in poor, free-draining sands and in clay with flint, over limestone. The farming is organic and biodynamic, certified by Ecocert and Biodyvin.

The 2021 was picked by hand on 28 and 29 September, with the bunches sorted at the parcel. The juice fermented slowly in barrel and stayed on its lees, never racked, until bottling. The Delecheneaus are clear about why the wood is there: to let in a little controlled oxygen, and for nothing else.

The vintage started badly. Two waves of frost hit the Loire in April 2021, and Chris Kissack of The Wine Doctor puts the region's harvest down by about 30%. He calls it the worst frost in recent years, close to 1991.

The domaine gives Clef de Sol five to ten years in bottle. It also asks you to open it two hours before serving, which is more patience than most whites request.