Domaine Belargus - Anjou "Treilles" Monopoly 2019

The Treilles is a full-bodied, dense, intense and tensioned yet highly finessed and elegant Chenin.

Jo Pithon resuscitated this south-facing monopole, Coteau des Treilles, in Rochefort in the late 1990s. This 2.72-hectare plot is “geological chaos” hence abandoned after the war. Located in the heart of the Pont-Barré Natural Reserve, a heaven of biodiversity that has never known chemistry, Jo brought this grand cru back on the map of the Loire's finest vineyards. Now run by Ivan Massonnat they worked to create the very first vintage, the 2018.

The bronze-coloured sample of the 2019 Anjou Coteau des Treilles shows some iodine sherry aromas but is pure, refined and elegant on the intense and complex, yeasty-scented nose. Pure, elegant, fresh and salty, with remarkable vitality and mineral tension, this is currently a super firm and quite tannic Treilles whose finish is super compact and tight but powerful and very, very long and tensile. The wine is not just bone dry but also finishes a bit astringent at this stage, but its lemony fruit concentration and structure give hope for another great Chenin from this 2.7-hectare monopole that Jo Pithon brought back onto the map of the Loire's finest wines. This 2019 is still so compact and dense that I had to taste it for a week to come closer to its soul and real class that might easily get underrated at this early stage. 97-99 points - Stephan Reinhardt, Wine Advocate. 2019 review.

 100% Chenin Blanc.