Loire 2021 white wines: vintage report and new releases

This concentrated and powerful 2020 Treilles is richly textured and opulent with honey and butter notes. Great potential to age. The creation of Domaine Belargus...

The rich and concentrated but still youthful 2020 Clos de Mosny has complex aromas of butter, honey and vanilla and is richly textured with a...

This has long been one of my favourite Luneau Papin wines. The ripe but delicate 2020 has concentrated citric notes and is well balanced with...

Rich and vibrant with complex notes of honey, vanilla and butter with fine mouth-filling texture and a long refreshing finish. Given the consistent quality of...

Soft pear and apricot notes, lovely opulent texture matched with balancing acidity in its long finish. Domaine des Bérioles is a leading and exciting domaine...

Complex aromas, with layers of primary and secondary fruit and buttery richness. Tinned pineapple, toasted oak, confit apricot, herb and a touch of acacia. Seriously...

This complex, opulent, concentrated 2020 has citric, floral and yeasty notes from time on its lees and an attractive texture. This is a Muscadet for...

This rich and opulently textured 2020 has ripe citrus aromas with wood notes. The rich, long, powerful finish masks the wine’s balancing acidity. This is...

Soft, complex lemony aromas, with a ripe and mouth-filling texture, good length and balance. It is still quite young but has clear potential to develop...

This complex 2021, which is vinified in stainless steel, is impressive for a difficult vintage with its apple and melon aromas, ripe texture, long finish...

Light citrus aromas and mouth-filling ripe fruit nicely balanced by its refreshing acidity in its long finish. This promising, charming Sancerre should develop further in...

Opulent gooseberry and yellow plum aromas, mouth-filling ripe fruit and good balancing ripe acidity. An impressive 2021 Sauvignon. Lionel Gosseaume’s Domaine de Pierre started life...

A complex 2020 with very ripe apple aromas and some honey notes. This is balanced by some refreshing acidity on the finish, although partially masked...

An impressive 2021 with quite ripe, rich, mouth-filling fruit with notes of grapefruit. Currently it is a little tight in the well-balanced finish, but I...

There’s light wood notes along with lemon and quince, leading to a ripe, concentrated texture. It is still quite tight in the finish and needs...

Vibrant and quite richly textured with notes of pear and apple with good length and balance. I expect it to develop further in bottle. A...

This has vibrant lemon and yeasty aromas with mouth-filling ripe fruit. Although still youthful and tight it is well balanced with clear potential – a...

The well-balanced 2021 Rochoy has an attractively rich texture with hints of brioche in the long finish and has the potential to age well. Domaine...

Opulent yellow plum aromas, followed by a mouth-filling texture, all well balanced with vibrant acidity. Domaine Henri Bourgeois has recently been rebranded as Famille Bourgeois,...

The richly fruited 2021 L’Arpent des Vaudons has ripe plum notes with a vibrant texture and saline notes in the finish. Impressive for the vintage....

Buttery and vanilla aromas, with a richly textured palate and a long, quite austere finish. It has a good potential to age. The now 61ha...

The 2021 Menetou-Salon is impressive for a difficult vintage with ripe mouth-filling fruit, good length and complexity. Le Prieuré de St-Céols is in the centre...

Lots of yellow plum and pineapple notes, a rich texture with enough balancing acidity in the long finish. The dynamic and far-sighted Vincent Roussely is...

With soft yellow plum aromas, this is attractive and ripe and richly textured with ripe, but the acidity keeps the finish refreshing. It was the...

The powerful Ordovicien comes from Chenin Blanc planted on schist in the Beaumont vineyard. Vinified and aged in oak, the 2020 has complex, rich aromas...

The delicately sweet 2020 Le Plan de Jean is vinified in temperature controlled vats. It has attractive lychee and apricot notes. All too often these...

Attractive apricot aromas, this is delicately sweet but is a nicely balanced lighter style of Layon suitable as an aperitif or served with cheese. The...

Made using natural yeasts, this has complex citrus and red fruit aromas, mouth-filling texture and a long but slightly tight finish at present, so it...

Rich aromas of honey and vanilla, followed by a concentrated mouth-filling texture, medium length with some tightness on the finish at present. Vignoble Alain Robert,...

The 2021 Les Craies Pouilly-Fumé has slightly smoky notes and is attractively richly textured with racy, vibrant, marked acidity in the quite long finish. This...

The 2020 Sauvignon from Les 7 Lieues has attractive ripe grassy and gooseberry aromas, is medium bodied with a very clean, vibrant finish. Cellier du...

The 2020 has grassy, gooseberry and yellow plum notes. It is richly textured and well-balanced with good vibrant acidity. Domaine Alain Cailbourdin was set up...

This rich and ripe 2020 has grassy and gooseberry aromas, good texture and racy length. This is a ripe style of Coteaux du Giennois from...

The 2020 has opulent ripe apricot and peach aromas and an attractive citric texture. This is a lighter style of Coteaux de l’Aubance to serve...

Citrus, grassy aromas with some ripe texture and good balancing acidity in the slightly short finish. However, overall this is a successful 2021. Along with...

This 2020 La Chapinière has grassy and gooseberry aromas, ripe fruit with a long vibrant finish. Baudry-Dutour, run by Christophe Baudry and Jean-Martin Dutour, is...