In 1988, Jacky Blot set up this Domaine attempting to drag the Montlouis appellation out of the shadows of its neighbour, Vouvray. It was an unequivocal success. Jacky sadly passed away in May 2023, leaving the domain in the talented hands of his son Jean-Philippe, who had been hands on in making the wines for over a decade. Jacky was one of the world’s greatest exponents of the Chenin Blanc variety, his 45 hectares of vines are planted with nothing else. The viticultural philosophy of the domaine centres around working closely with nature; fertilisation is now an extinct practice, chemical treatments are practically non-existent and pruning is radically short, keeping yields down to an average 25 hl/ha. At harvest time picking is by hand, successive tris are undertaken and a severe grape selection is carried out. The wines are then vinified in Bordeaux barriques, both new and old (depending on the particular cuvée) in cool rock-hewn cellars. In Taille aux Loups Jacky has created a domaine that clearly demonstrates the potential Chenin has for producing some of the world’s greatest, and longest lived white wines.

The Taille aux Loups philosophy is to eschew malo-lactic fermentation in all the cuvees, giving these wines a wonderfully racy, precise clear cut feel. It equips them well for long ageing in bottle. Fermentation and elevage is carried out in barriques and all the cuvees receive the same oak treatment: 20% new, then equal parts one, two, three and four years old barriques.