Domaine de la Fontainerie 2021 Vouvray Brut Nature Sparkling Wine, Loire Valley

This is one of my favorite wines from Fontainerie. I find it so full of complexity and layers. You get tons of ripe peach, honey, earthy white button mushroom and pears. Super fine bead of bubbles and loaded with tangy lemon rind on the finish. So much cool stuff going it is impossible to tire of drinking it. Brut Nature, no sugar added.

Catherine Dhoye-Deruet has been winemaker at Fontainerie since she took over the winery from her father in 1990.  This dry bubbly is Chenin Blanc grown in chalky limestone and clay soil, fermented with indigenous yeast and bottled unfined and unfiltered.  The grapes for this cuvée are picked a bit riper than those for the other basic cuvées. When done with a lower dosage, the results are truly splendid. The richer body makes for more complexity while no dosage focuses the mineral lines and acidity to greater advantage.