MAKING THE CASE LOIRE WHITE & BUBBLY
We originally met Laura David in a room that was the antithesis of a cool troglodyte cave, like the one where she currently passes her day. This one was hot, sweaty, and thick with the stench of humanity sloshing and spitting wine into small buckets.
It was on an unseasonably warm December day a few years ago, and we had plans to visit a small gathering of winemakers in Paris. We trekked up by train, then walked to the venue. By the time we got there, we were dripping. The friend that had told us about the tasting bailed on us by phone at the last minute (it’s too hot to taste wine today!) but there we were, already at the door. So we shrugged it off, and entered.
After greeting a few winemakers hanging out by the bank of spinning fans, we proceeded to make our way around the room featuring about 20 female winemakers. It was crowded, humid, and really hard to taste wine.
Nearly ready to bail and go have lunch, we stopped at one last table and that's when the first of Laura’s wines hit my glass. Bright, fresh, and delicious — she had my attention. I turned to Mrs. Cru, and saw the same look on her face. Bingo.
And now here we are, six years later. Sébastien got his turn to meet the energetic, always smiling Laura David this past summer. It was way cooler, and way more comfortable, just like all our visits with her.
Laura works from a small troglodyte caves--sort of a series of tiny rooms carved into the very same chalky soils (called tuffeau) that make Montlouis and Vouvray so special. Created during Medieval times, these caves originated as quarries that supplied limestone blocks used in the building of chateaux. Once hollowed out, they morphed into practical, comfortable dwellings for the quarry workers and their families. With ambient temperatures hovering around 60 degrees, there was no need to heat, or cool, these dwellings. Generations of families inhabited the caves surrounding Chinon, Amboise, Tours, and Saumur — until as recently as the 1960’s!
Thanks to their naturally cool and consistent temperatures, troglodyte caves are the perfect place to make wine too. Inside Laura’s caves, you’ll note remnants of a huge, old manual wine press, storage cubbies carved into the walls, and vine roots poking through the ceiling from the vineyard planted about 10 meters above. It's all pretty darn cool, man.
I'm glad we got there early, because this is young vigneronne with her star is on the rise. We plan to go back again and again, to take in the cool of her caves, load the car with her magnificent bottles, and buoy ourselves with the fire and energy of a young winemaker. I hope you'll take an opportunity today to get to know her wines for the first time, or to reintroduce yourself!
Here are the two bottles that currently stand out to uys as some of the best she has yet made:
1) Laura David Montlouis sur Loire "L'Insolente" 2023
It comes from a small 1.5ha parcel of Chenin Blanc grown on a sandy/clay and flint vineyard not far from her winery. I find this wine to be a case study in just how darn wonderful Chenin Blanc can be when handled correctly. The wine is bone dry (less than 6 grams of residual sugar), very fine and soft, yet screaming with fruit like white peaches, quince, and kumquats. NO--it is NOT sweet. It is simply awesome, with a near perfect balance between acidity and fruit. You could enjoy this with almost any meal, but her thinking tends towards sweet and sour, and spicy dishes.
2) Laura David Montlouis Extra Brut
This is a brand new thing, sort of. When she began her business back in 2016 she knew she wanted a little sparkling wine on hand to pour for dégustateurs, and to round out her program. As many wineries do, she simply carted off a cubitainer of juice to the local cooperative, and 18 months later received in return whatever they wanted to give her. But with this wine--no more.
Even though she ages her bottles off-site from her winery, she fills them with her OWN juice, and receives her OWN sparkling wine in return. And man, what a game changer! It is one of the finest sparkling Chenin Blanc we've had in years--a lively, zippy, lemon-tinged number, that also sports the kind of textural richness that only Chenin can give. Don't ignore this one. Load it up for the holidays!