ZoomL'Amant2023
Le NadirSaumur, Loire, France
About this wine
Fabien Perréard founded Le Nadir in 2019 in Saumur, Loire, after working two harvests with Jean-Pierre Chevallier, Matthieu Vallée and Aymeric Hillaire. The estate is small (1.7 hectares of organic-farmed old vines) and the cellar is uncompromisingly low-intervention: native-yeast fermentation, no filtration, little to no added sulphur. L'Amant is a Chenin Blanc bottling, drawn from old vines on Saumur's tuffeau (chalky limestone) substrate. The 10% alcohol on the 2023 release points to a deliberate early pick, an emerging house signature: brisk, lithe, savoury Chenin rather than the orchard-fruit weight of warmer-vintage Loire whites. Useful as a by-the-glass natural Chenin for trade accounts that want freshness over richness.
Winemaking
Native-yeast (indigenous) fermentation. No fining or filtration. Little to no added sulphur. Hand-worked old-vine plots, organically farmed.