Barton & Guestier Vouvray

Country: France
Region: Vouvray
Producer: Barton & Guestier
Grape variety: Chenin Blanc
Vintage: 2010
Found at: Willow Park Wines and Spirits  (or see Liquor Connect and enter your postal code)
Price: $16.99

About the region: Time to visit a lesser-known wine region! As a kid, I associated the Loire valley with castles like Chambord and Chenonceau, which we used to visit while camping there. Today, it makes me think of the wide variety of wines that are grown all along the river valley: from Sancerre in the East to Muscadet in the West and in between several others, including today’s region: Vouvray.

The grape variety grown here is Chenin Blanc in a wide variety of styles ranging from dry to sweet and from still to bubbly. Its flavours vary accordingly as well, ranging from green apple to exotic, but usually with above-average acidity and mineral notes.

About the wine: In 1725, Irishman Thomas Barton founded a wine shipping company in Bordeaux to distribute its wines, mainly across the channel. Eventually he bought several estates in Bordeaux as well and start producing his own wines. In 1802, his grandson and successor, Hugh Barton, joined forces with Daniel Guestier, a French trader, to create Barton & Guestier. Today, it develops a wide range of mostly entry-level wines among which the Vouvray stands out.

The Vouvray is off-dry, balanced by the characteristic acidity. It’s showing peach and pear flavours, as well as some floral notes. This will be another great wine for a nice summer day, which will hopefully come along soon!

In Susanne’s words: Nice, happy, special.