Côteaux de Vendômois
Loire, France
What a fun story this is. So, Ariane Lesné discovers her love for wine in the 1990s during her postgraduate degree studying management and marketing for wines and spirits. She hops around a couple of fun postings working with a chain of Parisian wine stores (hello life goals!) before eventually heading to frickin' Burgundy to work her first of six harvests at the exceptional Domaine de L'Arlot in Nuits St. Georges. In the 2000s she makes the move to the UK to work for an English wine merchant in fine wine speculation (booming biz back then but there's dotcom bubble vibes) before coming back to Paris to setup her own wine merchant trade. Like a boss ass b!%@# she says forget that noise and decides she wants her own winery. She hears through the grapevine (I know, sorry...) that this wicked estate in the Côteaux de Vendômois is up for sale by the owner and decides to take her shot without a second thought (kinda like Aaron Burr, sir). A 6-month crash course by outgoing proprietor Emile Heredia and she's off to the races fashioning this shindig into an image she's spent years dreaming about.
Today, the vineyards are some of the most beautiful, and healthiest, in the region with a focus on natural, low-intervention winemaking in addition to biodynamic and organic vineyard practices. There's essentially two labels at Domaine de Montrieux with the estate fruit used to produce a sensational lineup of Loire-native single varietal bottlings and a couple of blends. She also sources fruit from friends around the region to make fun, entry level bangers of insanely high quality.
Sauv'qui Peut is 100% Sauvignon bought from the Moreau bros at the exciting Domaine de Cambalu. Ripe lemons, rich pears, enticingly aromatic and a touch honeyed with a long elegant finish. Dynamite Loire valley Sauv. Blanc and will make you double take the label to make sure you are in fact drinking what you thought you were.