Vouvray produces some of my favourite off-dry white wines of any region in the world. These vinous expressions are the pillowy counterpoint to the soaring wines of the Mosel. Equally deft at bringing together lightness, freshness and incredible depth, there is a much waxier quality than anything you’d find from the Rhine Valley and its offshoots.

This “sweet” Vouvray from the top producer Champalou is a perfect example of both top Vouvray and how the 2003 vintage produced some excellent sweet wines in the Loire despite the heat. In Vouvray the grapes saw some noble rot, which added to the wines’ voluptuous intensity even while the lower acid of the vintage perhaps took away from their famous ageability.

A Marshmallow Waterfall

With classic aromas of honey and peaches, this wine turns truly exciting upon drinking. Waxy, dense apricots, peaches and honey glide over the tongue like a marshmallow waterfall. The complexity and length show this to be a top notch wine, even though the acid is just barely at the right level and the wine very well may start declining sooner than expected. This is serious Chenin and is perfect with Thai food, pumpkin ravioli or anything with a hint of sweetness and spiciness.

Excellent
$50 at Liberty Wine Merchants

This wine is otherwordly. It is also completely unorthodox. The wine writer side of my brain spent hours confused about how to articulate what was going on in my mouth. The drinker in me kept wanting more of this most incredible juice.

His methods may be unconventional (Joly is one of the loudest proponents of biodynamic wines), but when they hit the sweet spot his wines can sing. You might not think that a funky, honeyed, musty, explosive, shy, and emotionally deep late harvest Savennieres would be the ideal pairing for Vancouver sushi, but it was.

I could go on about his methods, but others have done that before. What is important here is that this crackpot winemaker is making the kind of wine that you need to taste. He shows the benefits to striking your own path and being unconventional when you have the passion and talent to back it up. This is what makes wine exciting. I can think of no better praise for a wine or a winemaker.

Excellent
$40 at Everything Wine

Domaine Huet is probably the leading domaine in Vouvray, itself a leading region in France’s Loire Valley. These wines are legendary for many, which is interesting given that many ‘legendary’ french wines tend to have much more history than this domaine, which was founded just after the first world war with its Le Haut Lieu vineyard. Today, Huet has acquired two more important vineyards, Le Mont and Clos du Bourg. Each of these vineyards is turned into three different wines, varrying by the amount of residual sugar in the wine: the sec, demi-sec, and Moelleux.

Huet picks everything by hand, and uses five “tries” or passes when selecting grapes. In good years the “Premier Trie” becomes its own wine, often hailed as some of the best Chenin in the world. Each wine is made with grapes selected from vines ranging in age from 10 to 50 years, with the old vines comprising approximately half of most of the blends.

After harvest the wines undergo temperature-controlled fermentation in 225 and 600 litre oak barrels as well as 3000 litre stainless steel vats. The oak is definitely detectable on the palate of the wines, though it is quite subtle and, given the outrageous acidity in most of these bottles, it merely adds structure and depth rather than any dominant characteristics. The wines are racked and sulphured to arrest fermentation when the sugar and alcohol are correctly balanced. In order to maintain freshness there is no malolactic fermentation . Importantly, it is not through vinification, but rather through site that Huet looks to express differentiation in its wines.

This wine gave up quite a dense nose with quince, nuts, lemon and cream. I found the lemon and quince characteristics continued on the palate, but there was also apple, minerals, roots and licorice. The wine is quite viscous for a chenin and I love this density, which is offset perfectly by the wine’s high acidity. This is of medium weight in the mouth and very layered with good length. While this “Sec” had 8 grams per litre of residual sugar I thought this was quite refreshing while also being a full and complete wine. This truly is an exceptional value and lives up to the reputation of this storied producer. Labeled with a Demeter biodynamic classification. Perfect for Japanese food. 13% ABV.

Excellent
$35 at Marquis Wine Cellars