Suckling: “It’s hard to find adequate words”
- 98 pts James Suckling98 pts JS
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2020 Domaine FL Chamboureau Savennieres 750 ml
| $44 | per bottle | |
- Curated by unrivaled experts
- Choose your delivery date
- Temperature controlled shipping options
- Get credited back if a wine fails to impress
The New Champions of Savennières
Domaine FL’s single-vineyard Chamboureau Savennières has been James Suckling’s highest scoring Chenin Blanc in each of the last three vintages…and he’s never scored one higher than the 98-point 2020 Domaine FL.
“It’s hard to find adequate words for the cornucopia of flowers, citrus and stone fruit aromas of this wine,” declared Senior Editor Stuart Pigott, who raved about the “breathtakingly precise and pure” bottling.
The Savennières appellation is widely regarded as the seat of the world’s greatest dry Chenin Blancs—and it is tiny. Consisting of just 300 hectares of vines, it’s only about a tenth the size of Sancerre, explaining why the best producers’ wines are often impossible to purchase in the US.
Domaine FL was only founded in 2007—practically yesterday by the historic standards of French wine—and they didn’t catch fire until they hired famed Burgundy enologist Kyriakos Kynigopoulos in 2014. Since then, they’ve vaulted into the Loire Valley’s stratosphere, topping the charts in 2018, 2019, and with this 2020.
What the famous terroir of Savennières does to this thin-skinned grape can be described, but it’s a phenomenon far better tasted. When planted there, Chenin Blanc acquires a nervy, almost alpine quality that Vinous wrote of as being tonic-like. It’s the anchoring note at the center of this incredible wine—a paradox of luxurious, creamy weight and mineral-kissed acidic lift—that’s an instant classic.
This Chamboureau bottling comes from a tiny five-hectare vineyard that sits right next to the château of the same name. It’s a privileged site that’s been famous since the 16th century, and Domaine FL farms it organically, carefully managing yields to produce grapes with powerful flavors. In the warm 2020 vintage, everything worked out to perfection.