Notify me
2023 Cheverny
Domaine du SalvardAt twenty-three, I was given the opportunity to build the wine list at a bustling French seafood restaurant in Brooklyn. I had fallen in love with the menu the first time I’d dined there: fresh East and West Coast oysters, moules marinières, daily fish specials like seared sea scallops with fennel and grapefruit salad, whole roasted branzino... It was here I tasted my first Cheverny, a Loire white rife with herbs, citrus, and minerality—a perfect pairing for briny treats from the sea, often tempered by rich European butter. Naturally, the bottle promptly became a crowd (and staff) favorite.
In the years that followed, between leaving the restaurant and arriving at Kermit Lynch Wine Merchant, I never encountered another Cheverny quite as memorable. Imagine my delight when, at an early staff tasting, we opened this bottle from Domaine du Salvard. Fresh, lively, and full of zest, it transported me back through time. This is truly singular Sauvignon Blanc with saline notes and whiffs of sage, rounded out with a luxurious splash of Chardonnay. But what’s really remarkable is the energetic rush of youth it contains—scents of summery, ripe tomato vines, and seasons of life that leave you forever changed.
—Allyson Noman
Wine Type: | white |
Vintage: | 2023 |
Bottle Size: | 750mL |
Blend: | 85% Sauvignon Blanc, 15% Chardonnay |
Appellation: | Cheverny |
Country: | France |
Region: | Loire |
Producer: | Domaine du Salvard |
Winemaker: | Emmanuel & Thierry Delaille |
Vineyard: | 10 - 65 years |
Soil: | Chalk, Limestone, Sand |
Farming: | Lutte Raisonnée |
Alcohol: | 12.5% |
More from this Producer or Region
2022 Pouilly-Fumé “Vieilles Vignes”
France | Loire
Sauvignon Blanc has many incarnations throughout the world, but even in the Loire Valley—the grape’s spiritual home—Pouilly Fumé represents a very distinctive example.
2022 Cheverny
France | Loire
Sauvignon and a splash of Chardonnay: the epitome of minerally Loire refreshment
2020 Chinon “La Croix Boissée”
France | Loire
This is the grandest bottling of Cabernet Franc from one of Chinon’s most outstanding producers.
Touraine “Fines Bulles”
France | Loire
Made in the méthode traditionnelle with direct-press Cabernet Franc, it is a light, bright, and festive bubbly meant to be drunk cold and often.
2020 Saumur Champigny “Outre Terre”
France | Loire
Outre Terre is a tiny production of Cabernet Franc fermented in amphora and aged in barrel.
2020 Muscadet Sèvre et Maine Clisson “La Molette”
France | Loire
A subtly floral nose and textured mouthfeel seal the deal. This is off-the-charts Muscadet.
2022 Val de Loire Sauvignon Blanc “Unique”
France | Loire
Lime blossoms delivered via a lightning bolt of minerally refreshment.
2022 Savennières “Cuvée Spéciale”
France | Loire
Powerful, cellar-worthy dry Chenin aged in chestnut, oak, and acacia.
2022 Coteaux du Loir Blanc
France | Loire
Exotically perfumed with hints of guava, musk, and clove, it finishes dry and quite flinty.
2019 Sancerre Rouge “Champs d’Alligny”
France | Loire
Previously blended into the domaine’s Sancerre rouge, the Champs d’Alligny is now its own bottling, a successful experiment if there ever was one.
About The Producer
Domaine du Salvard
About The Region
Loire
The defining feature of the Loire Valley, not surprisingly, is the Loire River. As the longest river in France, spanning more than 600 miles, this river connects seemingly disparate wine regions. Why else would Sancerre, with its Kimmeridgian limestone terroir be connected to Muscadet, an appellation that is 250 miles away?
Secondary in relevance to the historical, climatic, environmental, and cultural importance of the river are the wines and châteaux of the Jardin de la France. The kings and nobility of France built many hundreds of châteaux in the Loire but wine preceded the arrival of the noblesse and has since out-lived them as well.
Diversity abounds in the Loire. The aforementioned Kimmderidgian limestone of Sancerre is also found in Chablis. Chinon, Bourgueil, and Saumur boast the presence of tuffeau, a type of limestone unique to the Loire that has a yellowish tinge and a chalky texture. Savennières has schist, while Muscadet has volcanic, granite, and serpentinite based soils. In addition to geologic diversity, many, grape varieties are grown there too: Cabernet Franc, Chenin Blanc, Sauvignon Blanc, and Melon de Bourgogne are most prevalent, but (to name a few) Pinot Gris, Grolleau, Pinot Noir, Pineau d’Aunis, and Folle Blanche are also planted. These myriad of viticultural influences leads to the high quality production of every type of wine: red, white, rosé, sparkling, and dessert.
Like the Rhône and Provence, some of Kermit’s first imports came from the Loire, most notably the wines of Charles Joguet and Château d’Epiré—two producers who are featured in Kermit’s book Adventures on the Wine Route and with whom we still work today.
More from Loire or France
2022 Muscadet “Le Clos de la Butte”
Eric Chevalier France | Loire
2022 Bourgueil “Trinch!”
Catherine & Pierre Breton France | Loire
2020 Vin de France Rosé Grolleau/Cabernet Franc “Les Arceaux”
Grange Saint-Sauveur France | Loire
2021 Chinon
Bernard Baudry France | Loire
2022 Chardonnay
Eric Chevalier France | Loire
2022 Sancerre Rosé “Le Colombier”
Domaine Roger Neveu France | Loire
2022 Grolleau “Franc de Pied”
Bernard Baudry France | Loire
2016 Chinon “Les Petites Roches” MAGNUM
Charles Joguet France | Loire
2022 Jasnières “Dyane”
Christine de Mianville France | Loire
2018 Muscadet Sèvre et Maine “Gorges”
Domaine Michel Brégeon France | Loire
2022 Val de Loire Rouge Grolleau
Catherine & Pierre Breton France | Loire
2022 Coteaux du Loir Rouge “Cuvée du Rosier”
Pascal Janvier France | Loire
2022 Muscadet “Le Clos de la Butte”
Eric Chevalier France | Loire
2022 Bourgueil “Trinch!”
Catherine & Pierre Breton France | Loire
2020 Vin de France Rosé Grolleau/Cabernet Franc “Les Arceaux”
Grange Saint-Sauveur France | Loire
2021 Chinon
Bernard Baudry France | Loire
2022 Chardonnay
Eric Chevalier France | Loire
2022 Sancerre Rosé “Le Colombier”
Domaine Roger Neveu France | Loire
2022 Grolleau “Franc de Pied”
Bernard Baudry France | Loire
2016 Chinon “Les Petites Roches” MAGNUM
Charles Joguet France | Loire
2022 Jasnières “Dyane”
Christine de Mianville France | Loire
2018 Muscadet Sèvre et Maine “Gorges”
Domaine Michel Brégeon France | Loire
2022 Val de Loire Rouge Grolleau
Catherine & Pierre Breton France | Loire
2022 Coteaux du Loir Rouge “Cuvée du Rosier”
Pascal Janvier France | Loire
Kermit once said...
Kermit once said...
For the wines that I buy I insist that the winemaker leave them whole, intact. I go into the cellars now and select specific barrels or cuvées, and I request that they be bottled without stripping them with filters or other devices. This means that many of our wines will arrive with a smudge of sediment and will throw a more important deposit as time goes by, It also means the wine will taste better.