2018 Noëlla Morantin Sauvignon Blanc Chez Charles

Noëlla Morantin started her own 20-acre domaine in 2008 after working for other Loire domaines since 2001. Originally from Brittany, she grew up with a father who made wine for the family from a small family vineyard. Morantin worked for a while as a marketing director in a business unrelated to wines. But a chance meeting with a professor of viticulture inspired her to learn more about wine, and she interned at several domaines before eventually earning a degree in oenology and agriculture in 2004. For four years she worked as estate manager at Les Bois Lucas. Morantin dreamed of her own estate, however, and in 2008 Catherine Roussel and Didier Barrouillet of Clos Roche Blanche agreed to lease her some of their domaine. She has since purchased vineyards of her own and farms organically. Morantin produces Sauvignon Blanc, Gamay, Malbec, Côt, Cabernet Sauvignon and Chardonnay. Morantin’s domaine is in the Loir-et-Cher department (or district) of the Loire Valley, near the Cher river. Morantin’s Gamay is a play on words since her Gamay plot is very near the banks of the Cher River. She is considered one of the rising stars of the Loire Valley.

Touraine AOC is a sub-appellation of the Loire Valley, one of France’s largest and most picturesque wine regions. Located around the city of Tours, the region is known as château country because of the many fairy-tale castles located along the Loire River, its tributaries and plains. Touraine was awarded AOC status in 1939 and it includes 13,000 acres and 70 communes. Red, white and rosé wines can be made in this AOC. Red grapes grown in Touraine are Gamay, Cabernet Sauvignon, Cabernet Franc, Malbec and Pinot Noir. The white wine grapes grown here are Chenin Blanc and Sauvignon Blanc. Red Touraines are tannic and sometimes fruity. Whites are dry and full-bodied. Wine writer Hugh Johnson notes that the best reds of Touraine “have all the fragrance and charm of Cabernet Franc.”

This crisp, dry white wine hails from France but is grown in wine regions around the world. In California, it is sometimes called Fume Blanc; while in Sauternes, it is a component of their famous dessert wines.