Vignoble Brisebarre Vouvray “Moelleux” 2018.

Producer: Vignoble Brisebarre
Appellation: Vouvray AOC, Loire Valley, France
Vintage: 2018
Variety: 100% Chenin Blanc
Wine Style: “Moelleux” – sweet white
ABV: 12.5%
Residual Sugar: 60 g/L
Average Vine Age: 50 years
Cellaring Potential: Up to 40 years. Drink now to 2058.

Viticulture & Harvest

Produced from old-vine Chenin Blanc grown on Vouvray’s clay-limestone slopes above the Loire. The fruit is harvested at advanced maturity, with concentration enhanced by noble rot (Botrytis), giving the wine its natural richness while retaining the acidity that makes great Vouvray so long-lived.

Vinification & Maturation

The grapes are gently pressed on arrival at the domaine, followed by clarification and slow fermentation in tank. The wine is matured on fine lees in tank for 10 months, building texture and complexity without masking the character of the Chenin Blanc. Bottled at the property under traditional natural cork, it is subsequently conserved in Brisebarre’s underground chalk cellars, where naturally stable conditions are ideal for ageing.

Tasting Note

There is an immediate sense of richness here, but this is Vouvray, so freshness is never far behind. Acacia honey leads the nose, with ripe peach and orchard fruit emerging as the wine opens. The palate is generous and concentrated, its 60 grams of residual sugar giving real weight and lusciousness, yet the natural acidity of Chenin Blanc keeps everything taut, focused and remarkably energetic.

That balance is what makes this wine so compelling. It is sweet without becoming heavy, powerful without losing precision, and there is a lovely tension between ripe fruit, honeyed richness and the cool freshness of the finish. Botrytis adds another layer of concentration and gives the wine the structure to evolve beautifully in bottle.

Serve around 10°C with foie gras, blue cheese, or apple and pear tarts. It is equally convincing on its own at the end of a meal. Delicious now, but this is built for the cellar: expect increasing complexity over the coming decades, with a potential drinking horizon extending towards 2058.