Domaine François Chidaine

Until a few years ago, the appellation of Montlouis was fairly quiet. The recent surge of interest in the region is largely due to the wines of François Chidaine and to his impact as a mentor-figure to the area’s young winemakers. In fact, the wines of his domain have been among the great triumphs in latter-day Loire. François Chidaine has been working in biodynamism since 1999. As he explains on his website, “each parcel of vines expresses itself differently due to the nature of soils, to their location, or to the age of the vines.”

Each year, Chidaine produces five cuvées from the terroirs of Montlouis. Two of them, Les Tuffeaux (demi-sec) and Les Choisilles are specialties at the SAQ, as is his Montlouis Méthode Traditionnelle. He has also started producing three cuvées of Vouvray, from the opposite bank of the Loire opposite Montlouis. One of them, the cuvée Les Argiles, is also in the SAQ. His others are available through private importation.