The Guide des Meilleurs Vins de France 2022 is finally available!

'Luc Briand and Bénédicte Petit, both from Nantes, have taken over the Richou winery in the Coteaux d'Aubance area with panache. This wine-crazy couple dropped everything to devote themselves to these 34 hectares of vines, now cultivated biodynamically. The 2019, the first vintage since the takeover, keeping the precision we know, while offering a little more free fruit. Ambitious undergrowth maturation requires calibration, but we sense a sensitivity to refine the declination of dry Chenin whites through a myriad of lieux dits.

The wines: dominated by chardonnay, this is Dom Nature 2014, straightforward, digestible, and with a nicely fruity round frame. Terre de 3 2018, a blend of schist, rhyolite and quartz chenins, is straightforward and uncluttered in this solar year. Pavillon 2019 is at this stage marked by an imposing woodiness, probably inspired by certain Burgundian models, a tense and generous matter, with somewhat redundant flavors. A white made for the table. Grand Vau 2019 is more refined and dashing, with a relaxed juice, evoking fresh citrus fruits. Let yourself be seduced by the airy and deep florality of Bigottière 2018, a very balanced Savennières in a solar vintage felt in the generous finish. Chant de la Pierre 2019 enchants us with its brightness and fruity density and acidic tannins reminiscent of a gamay-saint-romain from Côte Roannaise. Cabernet franc and cabernet-sauvignon make up a salient duo, with good concentration in Rouge de Schiste 2018, with a tannic, firm frame, so typical of the area but without harshness. More of an autumnal red than a summery one.'

Anjou Grand Vau 2019 - Score 92
Anjou Pavillon 2019 - Score 90
Anjou Terre de 3 2018 - Score 90
Savennières Bigottière 2018 - Score 92
VDF Dom nature 2014 - Note 89
VDF Large Soif Rosé 2020 - Score 86
Anjou Gamay Chant de la pierre 2019 - Score 91
Anjou-Villages Brissac Rouge de schiste 2018 - Score 90
VDF Grosse Soif de Groslot 2020 - Score 87"