Beatrice et Pascal Lambert, 'Les Perruches' Chinon 2017

Jancis Robinson
"Certified Ecocert organic and Biodyvin biodynamic. 10- to 30-year-old vines on clay and flint. Destemmed, macerated in wooden vats for 25 days, manual cap punching, aged in 50-hl tronconic wooden vats and old barrels for 18 months.
Lots of pencil graphite and shavings on the nose of this! But the fruit has this incredible dried-cranberry and dried-sour-cherry intensity that plunges through the deep heart of the wine. The leafiness of this wine has an inner iridescent shimmer, like a starling feather, that appears here and there as you turn it in your mouth, turn it to the light. The tannins are supple, lithe, tea-soaked, tasting like wet graphite. Thoroughbred – all racing muscle and gloss. 17.5/20 points. (TC)."

Vinous Reverie Notes
Beatrice & Pascal Lambert believe that crafting the finest, richest Chinon possible begins with respect for the soil and the vine. Their 14 ha domaine, Les Chesnaies, sits in Cravant-les-Côteaux, just east of the center of Chinon, and is home to some of the finest terroirs for production of artisanal Cabernet Franc and Chenin Blanc in the region. Gravelly, alluvial soils with plentiful silica produce wines of richness, while calcareous clay (which includes deposits of chalky tuffeau) and silex impart regional distinction and finesse. Beatrice and Pascal seek to channel this ‘geological trilogy’ through their wines. Each cuvée is assembled to express the top features of the particular parcel of soils in which it grows. The end result is succulent Chinons of exceptional grace, structure and elegance. They are deeply colored, soft, and fruity – an ideal alternative to Burgundy for food pairings. Perruches soil are very stony, flinty clays combined with silica. Wine grown in this soil tend to show stony and flinty characteristics. The wine offers a lot of freshness, with a full finish and very fine tannins.