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WineWise
The Wine
Domaine Fouet is a stalwart of organic / natural winemaking in the Loire Valley.
L’Ardillon is Fouet’s pure, limestone‑driven expression of Saumur Chenin Blanc, drawn from organically farmed vines from classic Loire tuffeau and argilo‑calcaire soils. True to the house style, the wine is brisk, dry, and mineral-driven!
Harvesting takes place by hand, using multiple passes through the vines; during each pass the crew picks only the clusters at the optimal ripeness for the house style - not so ripe the wine is opulent but ripe enough to deliver classic Chenin Blanc love.
A gentle direct press and native yeast fermentations in steel tanks then preserve the wine's citrus, pear, and white‑flower notes. Lees aging is moderate - the goal being to round off the sharp edges without muting the wine’s crispness, leaving a wine that’s clean, saline, and chalky, with the kind of bright acidity that makes Saumur Blanc so refreshing.
Pairings: Fresh chèvre is the CLASSIC pairing, but we also love it with triple‑cream cheeses, and anything from the sea - oysters, scallops, and light fish dishes, poultry, and salads dressed with herbs or vinaigrette.
The Winery
Domaine Fouet is a seventh‑generation family estate in the village of Saint‑Cyr‑en‑Bourg, where the Fouet family has farmed the same limestone slopes for more than 150 years.
Today, Paul Fouet continues the Domaine’s organic farming and soil enrichment through cover crops, livestock in the vineyard to mow/fertilize/aerate, manual vineyard care, and low‑intervention cellar practices to highlight the purity of Saumur’s tuffeau soils.
The winery’s focus is on clean, terroir‑driven Chenin Blanc and Cabernet Franc, made with native yeasts and restrained élevage to let the vineyards take center stage. L’Ardillon reflects this philosophy perfectly: a bright, transparent Saumur Blanc that captures the estate’s commitment to organic farming and the region’s unmistakable chalky signature.
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