Domaine Joel Delaunay Touraine Sauvignon Blanc 2023

Alcohol: 13%

Grape(s): Sauvignon Blanc

Localization: Touraine, Loire Valley, France

Tasting Notes: This wine is pale lemon in color with an expressive and complex nose of tropical fruits, blackcurrant leaf, grapefruit, and lime. It is well balanced, long, and rich on the palate, with a fresh and fruity finish and a touch of minerality.

The Domain: Domaine Joël Delaunay is a family-owned estate, located in the Touraine AOC. Today, fifth-generation owner Thierry Delaunay runs the domain. Like his forward-thinking father, Joël Delaunay, who insisted on estate bottling in 1970, Thierry was the first Touraine producer to bottle under screwcap in 2004. Domaine Joël Delaunay has 34 hectares of vineyards, practicing sustainable viticulture. 90% of their production is white, with Sauvignon Blanc being the predominant grape variety, and 10% is red, mostly Gamay and Cabernet Franc.

Domaine Joël Delaunay is situated on the bank of the Cher Valley, 50 kilometers east of Tours near the famous Château de Chenonceau. The soil is clay and silex (a mixture of flint and sand) and the pruning method is simple Guyot. The vineyards are planted with grass between the vines to control yields.

30% of the cuvée was macerated on the skins for 12 hours before pneumatic pressing. Alcoholic fermentation took place over 20 days at controlled temperatures of 16°C. The wine was aged on fine lees after fermentation with bâtonnage (lees stirring) for three months prior to cross-flow filtration and bottling.