2017 Domaine Vincent Carême Vouvray Sec

This wine, living up to its name, is certainly dry. With tight acidity as well as a yeasty edge, it is young and full of bright white fruits. With the intense crisp texture and the mineral character of this wine, allied to the touch of spice from wood aging, it needs to age. Drink this full, fruity wine from 2021. (RV)

Vincent Careme has become my favorite go-to producer in Vouvray. From top-to-bottom, he creates cuvees that are sensational reflections of their soils and sites. This favorite son of the region has worked (and continues to work) abroad in South Africa but his native soil of Vouvray is where he makes some of the most outstanding Chenin Blancs coming from anywhere in the world. The Sec is pure delight with Pippin apple, Anjou pear and lemon rind rounded by a host of spices including nutmeg, ginger powder and allspice. It is linear and focused on the palate, with years of aging potential but why wait, really? A perfect foil for salty and/or spicy dishes, but perfect really with a rotisserie chicken if you want to keep things simpler.