Chidaine Montlouis-sur-Loire Les Tuffeaux 2019

94 points John Gilman (View From the Cellar): "The 2019 Montlouis 'les Tuffeaux' from François and Manuela Chidaine is a Demi-Sec bottling, though this does not appear on the label. It resides at its more customary octane level of 13.5 percent, as opposed to the riper 2020s from the estate, and offers up a beautifully refined nose of quince, pineapple, honeycomb, a touch of heather, a lovely base of flinty minerality, a hint of the honey to come with bottle age and a topnote of dried flowers. On the palate the wine is pure, full-bodied, complex and beautifully balanced, with a lovely core and soil undertow, zesty acids and a long, focused and very classy finish. This seems like it is on the cusp of starting to go into its period of hibernation, as it is starting to get a bit of dusty Chenin Blanc character on the backend, which suggests it should either be drunk over the next year or two, or then forgotten in the cellar for a half dozen years, so it can go through its typical period of hibernation. Once it emerges again, it should last fifty or sixty years. Fine, fine juice. 2022-2085. (Jul/Aug 2022)"

92 points La Revue du Vin de France: "Since his debut in 1989, Francois Chidaine has become a major player in Loire whites, an outstanding stylist now revered by many other winegrowers. He is one of those who revealed Montlouis, his original stronghold... Les Tuffeaux 2019 is invigoratingly fresh, with a perfectly integrated sweetness that irresistibly makes us salivate. (2022)"

Importer notes: "The domaine bottling is derived from bunches left to hang on all parcels in Montlouis that the estate owns. Always vinified in a demi-sec style, it shows unctuous notes of citrus, exotic fruits and honey in the nose that lead into a wine with excellent, fresh acidity and good length that really coats the palate. The ever-present bedrock of silex and limestone impart an overall mineral component to the texture of the wine, leaving it with a more tense, high-toned texture beneath the residual sugar."