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Francois Chidaine Montlouis Clos Habert 2020

$4499
Use code 10OFF to get 10% off 12+ bottles

Clos Habert sits at the top of Montlouis, on the seam where the flint gives way to broken chalk and clay, and the vines working it are sixty to ninety years old, rooted deep into the limestone beneath. Unlike Chidaine's bone-dry Montlouis bottlings, this one is not pushed all the way dry, finishing with around a percent of residual sugar, enough to round the edges without ever reading as a sweet wine. Chenin Blanc is the great shape-shifter among white grapes, brilliant dry, sweet or sparkling, and this is the register where it turns unctuous and precise at the same time. Hand-harvested from biodynamically farmed vines, fermented with indigenous yeasts and aged in large-format barrels. At six years the 2020 is only starting to open, and it will keep improving for a decade or more.

Shipping

Every step of the journey is managed to uphold the integrity of each bottle.

  • Nationwide Access: Flat-rate shipping available to most U.S. states with delivery in 3-5 business days.
  • Temperature-Monitored Shipping: We closely monitor weather conditions and make informed decisions to ensure shipments travel safely, with insulated packaging and refrigerated transport available when required.
  • Wine-Specific Protective Packaging: Specialized materials designed to maintain label integrity and prevent breakage during transit.
  • Provenance Assured: All wines are maintained in climate-controlled conditions at our shop until the moment of dispatch.

Returns & Exchanges

We stand behind every bottle we sell.

  • If the wine is less than 10 years old and it is corked, you may return it to us for a full refund or exchange within 60 days of purchase. You must show us proof of purchase. We understand that you may not live near a shop and that it is difficult to ship open bottles of wine to us, so if there's any problem feel free to Contact Us and we'll work it out.
  • For wines older than 10 years, the consumer bears the risk of a faulty cork, but we accept returns of older bottles if the wine is faulty as a result of improper storage. Please come by the store or Contact Us if there is a problem.
  • We may, at our discretion and to the extent permitted by law, accept returns of unopened wines within 30 days of purchase if they were properly stored by the purchaser, subject to a 15% re-stocking fee.

View our complete return policy →

Have Questions?

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Hours

Monday - Friday: 11am - 8pm

Saturday: 12pm - 5pm

CLOSED SUNDAYS

Email: help@flatiron-wines.com
Phone: (415) 780-1405


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Antonio Galloni

90 points

"The 2020 Montlouis Clos Habert is an off-dry Chenin Blanc with the ripeness and richness of the vintage showing through. Pear and nectarine fruit edge into almost exotic notes and lees-derived pastry characters. While it still has mouthwatering acidity, it is perhaps not as refined as it could be." —Rebecca Gibb MW,

Robert Parker

94 points

"From a solar, hot vintage, the 2020 Montlouis-sur-Loire Clos Habert offers up aromas of white fruits, spices, ripe orchard fruits and flowers. Medium- to full-bodied, enveloping and delicately sweet, it's fleshy with good depth at the core and a long, saline and ethereal finish. Vinified and matured in large barrels, it has 13 grams per liter of residual sugar." —Yohan Castaing

More about Francois Chidaine

François Chidaine is truly one of the Loire's greatest winemakers. Chidaine is based in Montlouis, but has wonderful holdings just across the Loire in Vouvray as well. Farming is organic with some biodynamic practices, but these taste more "classic" than "natural." Chidaine's style is very refined and broad, the wines possessing great depth with no hard edges or rusticity.

Sadly, Chidaine can't label his Vouvrays as such. It's due to an unusual and unhelpful change in law that requires Vouvray to be vinified within the borders of the AOC. Until this law gets reverted back, all of Chidaine's Vouvray cuvées, vinified within sight of the AOC, will be labeled "Vin de France."

Yet these are all world-class wines that are wondrous at the dinner table but also capable of aging decades in the cellar.

Wine Details

  • Grape Variety

    Chenin Blanc

  • Vintage

    2020

  • Size

    750ml

  • Farming Practice

    Biodynamic

  • Style

    Elegant , Minerally

  • Sweetness

    Dry , Off-Dry

  • Body

    Medium Bodied

Flatiron's Take

From the Importer

Tasting Notes & Food Pairings

Perfect Pairings

Roast chicken with tarragon, pork loin with apples, or a wedge of aged Comte. It is also the classic Loire answer to gentle spice, from Thai green curry to salt-and-pepper shrimp, where that whisper of sugar earns its keep.

Tasting Profile

Honey, lychee and citrus on the nose, with the smoky flint note Montlouis gives. Medium to full-bodied and just off-dry, the small amount of sugar cushioned by firm acidity rather than sitting on top of it. Crystalline mineral notes and exotic fruit through the middle, then a chalky, saline finish that runs long.

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