Tasted April 2024. 75% Merlot, 25% Cabernet Franc. 13.8% ABV. Grand Mayne flies under the radar, but has been making consistently impressive wines under third generation owners Jean-Antoine and Damien Nony. Their 2023 has a lovely mix of fresh bramble and Haribo berry gummy sweets on the nose, with licorice and dried rosemary creating savoury complexity. On the palate there's black cherry and raspberry jelly, with a mineral, saline note running through, combining with refreshing acidity on the long appetising finish.

Tasted April 2024. Blend 99% Merlot, 1% Cabernet Franc. ABV 14.2. This mediaeval property has experienced a new lease of life under David Suire's stewardship and is surely one to watch over the coming years. Aromas of ripe red plums, red cherries and black olive tapenade give way to warm, baking spice notes and a pleasant mossy, earthy undergrowth characteristic. The nose is deceptively ripe as the mouth is fresh and crunchy with slick and silky tannins.

Although the Loire is a region that has not embraced the cru system, it makes an exception when it comes to the magnificent sweet wines around the tributary of the Layon, near Angers. Quarts de Chaume is made from Chenin Blanc, and offers up a complex symphony of Seville orange bitterness with sweet candied citrus peel depth. The wine is intensely perfumed with honey, flowers, quince and apricot. It shows outstanding acidity which cuts through the concentrated sweetness.

This parcel is quintessential Chinon: at the top of the hill overlooking the Loire river, its flood plains, and the charming eponymous town. It is named after the huge and statuesque oak tree that grows at its edge. Its excellent position affords it good ripening and drainage. The soil here is clay and sandstone, and produces a wine with a pretty red fruit structure, and some distinctively spicy notes. Its ripeness and freshness chime in harmony. The wine has a lighter frame than that of the Dioterie, and a long, elegant finish.

This has got to be one of the best value sweet wines on the market. It is bottled in 50cl exclusively for Lay & Wheeler - the perfect size, we feel. It's made from 100% Chenin Blanc in the Loire Valley, and its balance of sweetness and freshness absolutely hits the spot. It is a beautiful pale golden colour, with aromas of Seville orange marmalade and acacia honey. The palate is fresh and vibrant giving it a refreshing, long finish. There is so much going on here.

This is another of Jacky's outstanding monopole vineyards. Like Clos de Venise, it actually lies within Vouvray, but becuase it is vinified on the other side of the river, in Montlouis, it cannot use the AOC name on its label. This irritating quirk of appellation beaurocracy should not overshadow the quality found here. Bretonnière has astonishing length and persistence. This, combined with its perfectly weighted body gives the impression of both concentration and density as well as a light-as-air frame, make it a captivating Chenin Blanc. It brims with citrus and blossom notes on the nose, with a spicy, saline palate. One of the picks of the vintage.

Some of the vines in this vineyard are over 100 years old, and the wine always has a thrilling concentration and precision derived from the high limestone content of the soil. The fruit is chiselled, nicely tart, with a delicious fresh ripeness underneath - everything you want from Chenin Blanc.

Clos Mosny is a walled 12 hectare vineyard which consistently produces one of our favourite wines from Jacky. It is so beautifully aromatic, with an energetic drive on the palate. The fruit is almost flamboyant in its expression, yet the saline tension of the acidity keeps everything tightly in balance, making this a serious and age-worthy expression of Chenin Blanc. Just a hint of new oak adds a creaminess to the texture. Very long on the finish, with crunchy apple and blossom fanning out across the palate.

Like La Bretonnière, this vineyard is also within Vouvray, but cannot use the AOC name since it is vinified in Montlouis. It comes from a south-facing slope, and Jacky and Jean-Philippe are careful to get the picking date right here. Too early and it loses its drama, too late and it feels overweight. It's as dramatic and exciting as it comes: pithy, zesty and fantastically long.

This is unquestionably the flagship wine of the Joguet estate. The vineyard lies right next to the domaine and was the first single vineyard that Charles Joguet championed. Its north-east facing slope and old vines planted on clay-limestone soils produce a wine with outstanding energy, spice, and density. It is profoundly deep but with no heaviness. There is such a sweet intensity to the Cabernet Franc fruit, and a mouthwatering salinity ensuring excellent ageing potential.