Chateau de Bonnezeaux Les Plantes 2022

t's one of the more unlikely comeback stories in the Loire: Château de Bonnezeaux sits on some of the most storied Chenin Blanc ground in Anjou, in the heart of the grand cru appellation famous for lusciously sweet, botrytis-affected whites — yet for three decades, from the early 1980s, the estate made no wine at all, its vines rented out and eventually abandoned. It took Guyonne Saclier de la Bâtie, who trained under biodynamic pioneer Mark Angeli and worked alongside Stéphane Bernaudeau, to bring the property back to life in 2012, replanting and nursing the old vines back to health before releasing her first vintage in 2016. "Les Plantes" comes from an old-vine parcel rich in clay, right beside the estate's Prieur des Noues site, farmed biodynamically and vinified with real restraint: spontaneous fermentation in French oak barrels on native yeasts, extended lees ageing, no filtration, and no added sulphites.

Unusually for fruit grown in an appellation built entirely around sweetness, Les Plantes is bottled bone dry — a deliberate, quietly radical choice that lets this exceptional Chenin terroir show a completely different side of itself. Expect a nose of ripe pear, apple, and stone fruit lifted by floral and mineral top notes, with a palate that's fresh, focused, and persistent, carrying real textural depth from its time in barrel without ever losing its cut.