APPY FRIDAY!! And what a treat it is!?! Buyer’s favorite, wine critic favorites….

Just $48 for this aged to perfection with still PLENTY of life yet! 94 Points, 93 Points.

Peak Chenin Blanc!! We RARELY get treated to a Savennières, and this one is special.

Wine Review Online emphasizes that this “unique wine” is “bursting with energy and power…”

Clos du Papillon is the vineyard and it is literally shaped like a butterfly. Look at it from the hill above and the land spreads out like wings. That’s how it got its name. Clos du Papillon (Butterfly’s enclosure.) 100% Chenin Blanc and from 40 acres of organically farmed vineyard on both banks. Nine months resting on the lees for texture and to put it bluntly… just a FABULOUS crisp, dry white wine! We wish we had an email where we could shout out our excitement about this wine. Hopefully we are getting through!

By the way, this very wine is on a few of our Agent Picks list too (two of the buyers already picked it).

Robert Parker called its winemaker Florent Baumard “one of the shining lights of France’s winemaking present and future.” Wine & Spirits handed him Loire Winery of the Year. Multiple times. 🤯 You may not know his name yet. After this bottle, we hope you will remember!

When the critics tasted the 2021 vintage back in 2024, they said it needed time. That it was wound tight. Full of potential but not ready. Well… It is now a couple of years later and IT IS SINGING!!! These wines get so much better with age! Delicious.

Vinous praises its “concentrated, focused mid-palate.” In the glass, quince and lime, with lanolin texture that wraps around bright citrus like a silk glove. It has an bright electric finish that just keeps going. Refreshing, lively…tasty!

FOODIES??? Take notice!!! If you love oysters on the half shell, buttery shellfish, creamy goat cheese or fresh fish off the boat, this wine was MADE for your table. One of our agents’ go to moves is roasted halibut or black cod with cherry tomatoes, spring onion (keep some of the green on), fresh tarragon or dill and lemon roasted in the oven in a parchment pouch. YUMM!!!

Grab it before it flutters away. 🦋 Agent Rotie and Agent Lees are already locking down a case each for their lockers.

94 Points - Wine Review Online ”Savennières, a small appellation just west of Angers in the Loire Valley, produces the most prized dry wines made from Chenin Blanc. Clos du Papillon is one of the top vineyards in the appellation. Add to that Baumard, one of the best producers in the region, and it’s no surprise that you wind up with a sensational bottle of wine. The schist/volcanic soil of the appellation no doubt contributes to the allure of Baumard’s polished 2021 Clos du Papillon. Tightly wound at this stage, there are underlying hints of stone fruit flavors accented by a touch of lava-like minerality, all wrapped in a waxy glossy coat. It’s bursting with energy and power, but not yet ready to emerge and show its stuff. This is a white to rest quietly in the cellar for a few years. But do find space for it because it’s a unique wine.”

93 Points - Vinous ”Despite Jean Baumard’s best efforts to keep his son from taking over the family winery, Florent Baumard joined his father at the domaine in 1987. Since then, Florent Baumard’s sons, Charles and Maxime, have joined, and in 2022, they started a new, dry Chenin cuvée, Pic Martin. The whites are always unoaked and focus on fruit purity with single parcel bottlings from Savennières – Clos du Papillon, Clos de Saint-Yves, one of their specialties. The domaine’s wines have been bottled under screwcap since 2003, allowing slower evolution. Their 2014 Extra Brut Crémant de Loire, disgorged in November 2023, is one of the most interesting, high-quality Loire sparkling wines I’ve had. The 2021 Savennières Clos du Papillon is bottled, but the 2020 hasn’t yet been released on the market at the time of this tasting; so, this is a bit of a preview of what’s to come. While there are creamy apple flavors on the concentrated, focused mid-palate a result of low yields, the 2021 is rather closed, structured and firm at the moment. A couple more years in bottle will allow it to throw off its shackles, open up and provide satisfaction rather than restriction. Drink 2026-2035.”