Brett happens

Montlouis 2014, Le Petit Cray, Jaulin Plaisantin ($31.60, private import, 6 bottles/case)
The estate’s name is the conjoined family names of its two owner-partners. Chinon and Montlouis are made and 2011 was the first vintage. The fruit for this 100% Chenin Blanc comes from organically farmed vines averaging 50 years old. Manually harvested. Fermented with indigenous yeasts. Matured in neutral 600-litre oak barrels. Lightly filtered before bottling. No additives except a small squirt of sulphur dioxide at bottling. Residual sugar: 2 g/l. 12.5% ABV. Quebec agent: Rézin.
Attractive nose exhibiting a range of fruit aromas described variously as membrillo, “mango” and “guava jelly” along with chalk and honey. Smooth and round in the mouth with the faintest touch of carbon dioxide spritz. So ripe the attack seems off-dry though the wine is actually quite dry. That said, the fruit is more subdued than on the nose, tending to apple and pear, and joined by threads of lemon verbena and white minerals. While mild, the acidity is sufficient to do the trick. The finish is long and clean. Lovely with a last slice of raw scallop dusted with Madagascar pepper and quite compatible with the sheep milk cheeses. Well made and enjoyable, this is still a youngster albeit a very approachable one; if I were a restaurateur, I’d be offering it by the glass. (Buy again? Yes.)

MWG March 12th tasting: flight 3 of 7