Olga Raffault Chinon Blanc Champ-Chenin 2014 CRV5 vanilla and fudge melt away

vanilla and fudge melt away to reveal stewed pears

where 35-to-40-year-old vines root into gravel

just south of Barolo

the rugged limestone plateau between Trieste and Slovenia

soft fruit notes

Olga Raffault Chinon Blanc Champ-Chenin 2014 CRV5 vanilla and fudge melt awayAlmost nobody makes white Chinon. The appellation is famous for Cabernet Franc, and the sliver of Chenin Blanc planted there gets grown mostly out of stubbornness and tradition. Olga Raffault is one of Chinon's most quietly legendary names, a domaine run by Sylvie Raffault with her husband Eric and son Arnaud, farming organically and fermenting with indigenous yeast. Champ Chenin comes off the tuffeau, the soft chalky limestone that runs under the