2016 Domaine des Baumard Clos du Papillon Savennieres Loire 750 ml

Chablis has Raveneau. Burgundy has Lafon. And the Loire Valley’s one-of-a-kind white-wine appellation of Savennières has Domaine des Baumard. They’re an icon whose dense, complex, fascinating wines don’t just linger in your mind—they take up permanent residence.

Baumard’s 2016 Savennières Clos du Papillon is one of those unforgettable wines. Rich, complex, dry, and built on a vibrant acidity that builds to a crescendo, this is a spectacular vintage of a highly-sought-after bottling. It’s a joy to pair with a myriad of foods, and it packs enough longevity to evolve for at least a decade and a half in the cellar.

Wines of this caliber and collectibility from better-known appellations cost triple digits, easy. This bottle is a shining example of why Savennières is a favorite category for savvy wine-collectors—and the first sip sent us back to the first Savennières that captivated our palates. We were outside the hamlet of Rochefort-sur-Loire. On a south-southeast facing slope we glimpsed a walled-in parcel shaped like a butterfly. It was called Clos du Papillon, and we knew that we’d found something special.

The Clos du Papillon benefits from a perfect south/southeastern exposure, essential for nurturing slow-maturing Chenin to optimal ripeness. Wines grown there feature an instantly recognizable gunflint minerality—the same distinctive note that, all those years ago when we first tasted it, sliced through our picnic lunch of goat cheese and pâté like it was nothing.

That was an amazing pairing, but this wine also thrives when accompanying fried foods and spicy Thai and Indian fare. No matter what you match it with, it’s a bottle that every white-wine lover should experience—as often as possible.