Domaine J. Mourat, Chenin de Jardin 2017

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Domaine Mourat knows how to make very good wines while maintaining a sense of humour! This Chenin de Jardin blanc will replace your usual dwarfs…..It is fruity, it is fresh, it is organic! To date, comprising 120 hectares of vines, the Mourat Vineyards represent one of the largest wine-growing areas in organic farming in the Loire Valley. Proud defender of the Vendée, Jérémie Mourat develops a pure Chenin there, without artifices, maximizing a sparkling fruitiness and a minerality that complicates the whole. Superb!  An hour south of Nantes along the central coast of France, Fiefs Vendéens is the westernmost tip of the Loire Valley, just 20 km from the coast, resulting in a maritime influence from the nearby Atlantic that is unusual for Loire wines.  The Mourat family has been in wine for a long time – first making wine on the Ile de Ré (along with salt) until the end of the 19th century, then as wine merchants, until Jean Mourat created the current estate in 1974. Son Jéremie joined him in ‘98, converting all of the family’s 10 acres to organic farming. Today he makes several different cuvees, including his adorable ‘Roquin de Jardin’ (garden gnome) Pinot and Chenin bottlings, meant to be the fun everyday drinkers. More like Sancerre than the classic, woolly Chenin style, this one lights up with neon green and citrus notes and puckery acidity. The name Mourat is intimately linked to wine: Vignerons and Sauniers on the Ile de Ré until the end of the 19th century, then wine merchants in Sables d’Olonne for three generations; it is in 1974 that Jean Mourat created the vineyard that will become Château Marie du Fou. Jérémie joined him in 1998 to perpetuate the adventure while establishing two estates, the Clos Saint-André in 2006 and the Moulin Blanc in 2011. For more than 10 years, all areas have been grown organically or in organic conversion.

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