Francois Cazin Cour-Cheverny 'Vendanges Manuelles' Blanc 2021 750ml

FRANCE : LOIRE VALLEY : COUR-CHEVERNY

SUSTAINABLE : Romorantin

FULL-BODIED, MINERAL, LIME, QUINCE, BEESWAX, WHITE FLOWERS, NO OAK

Cour-Cheverny is the only AOC in France dedicated exclusively to Romorantin, a grape grown nowhere else at any scale — and this is the wine that defines what the appellation can do. François Cazin has farmed Le Petit Chambord since 1980; some of the Romorantin vines go back to 1928. That age shows up not in weight but in structure — mineral to the core, crystalline, built for another decade or two in the cellar.

The 2021 is a vintage worth noting: severe spring frosts kept yields small and held alcohol to 13%, producing the kind of old-school, high-acid rendition that John Gilman called “utterly classical.” He scored it 94 points in July 2024 and put the drinking window at 2024–2045+. The contrast with the 14.5% warmth of the 2020 is exactly what Romorantin is supposed to deliver when the growing season cooperates.

Hand-harvested, fermented with native yeasts in tank, and aged on lees in large foudres before bottling by gravity — this is the Cour-Cheverny benchmark. If you're looking for a white that can age like Chablis but costs a fraction of it, this is where the conversation starts.

PAIRINGS :