Marie Thibault Premier Nez

Grapes: Chenin Blanc

Region: Touraine, France

Vintage: 2019

Viticulture: Organic

Soils: White clay + Limestone

Vinification: Direct press, then fermented in barrels

Aging: 14 months in barrels

Fining or Filtering: None

Sulfur: None added

Notes from the Importer: Not from a winemaking family, but with degrees in biology and oenology, Marie Thibault began making wine in the early 2000s. She worked for a time at François Chidaine in Montlouis, where she fell in love with Chenin Blanc. In 2011, she founded her own 3.5 hectare domaine in Azay-le-Rideau, a lesser known environ of the Touraine appellation. While in some sense this is a new beginning for Marie, she has over a decade of experience making wine and benefits from strong relationships with many growers in the region such as Noëlla Morantin and Frantz Saumon. It sounds cliché, but her passion and energy are infectious; she’s also humble, learning one year to the next how to progress and improve.

Marie has one contiguous parcel on a gentle, windy slope that is drier than the other vineyards of Azay-le-Rideau, which lie on a plateau. Her vineyard is marked by white clay and limestone. She immediately began to farm organically in 2011 and 2014 will be her first certified vintage.

Marie Thibault’s wines are bold and strong. The best examples need a year or two after bottling to show best, and certainly show potential for cellaring.