Arnaud Lambert

Wine Info

Region: Saumur, Loire Valley, France
Grapes: Chenin Blanc 100%
ABV: 13%
Winemaker: Arnaud Lambert
Viticulture: Certified organic
Winemaking: Natural yeast fermentation, partial whole-cluster maceration, aging in stainless steel and neutral barrels

Hi, meet Chenin Blanc.

If you don’t know each other already, this is your ticket to drinking better. Because it’s not as famous as Chardonnay or Sauvignon Blanc, nobody knows about it. Chenin is world class, though. Here’s a grape with tons of texture and flavor, loved by sommeliers the world over. Why? Well Chenin is cuisine-friendly. It’s a Swiss Army knife for food-pairing. Something about the combination of all that zippy acid and round texture makes for awesome flavors when it’s poured next to great dishes.

Chenin is a grape that can make incredibly delicious and complex wines in the right hands. Arnaud Lambert may be one of the most promising voices in the Loire Valley for Chenin blanc at the moment. Since the mid 2000s, he and his father have been farming and producing dynamic Chenin blancs from the Saumur area. It’s important to note these wines are intensely dry, too. In other parts of the Loire Valley, it’s common to produce off-dry Chenin blanc, but the Lamberts are bearing the flag for crisp, bone-dry Chenin Blanc and doing a fantastic job at it.

Pear. D’Anjou pear, bosc pear, asian pear. Spiced pear. So much pear in one wine. It’s unreal. Beyond the pear, there’s notes of fresh meyer lemon peel, chamomile tea, honeysuckle and damp hay. A pastoral scene, damp with morning dew.