Thibaud Boudignon Savennieres La Vigne Cendree 2023 EARHARDT the kind of gnarled old

the kind of gnarled old planting that usually gets pulled out for something more fashionable

The production is resolutely traditional: 100% Blue Weber agave cooked 22 hours in stone ovens

Not very oaky

California’s orchards stretch from the Central Valley to the Coastal Range

That agave foams so violently in the still that most distillers simply refuse to work with it

Thibaud Boudignon Savennieres La Vigne Cendree 2023 EARHARDT the kind of gnarled oldIf Boudignon is the star of the new Loire, La Vigne Cendree "the ashen vine" is one of his most distinctive parcels. It's a tiny half hectare plot perched high above the Chateau de Varennes, ringed by trees, sitting on a singular mosaic of purple schist, granite, and clayey silt. Thibaud bought the plot in 2014 and replanted with massale selection the following year. The farming is organic, leaning biodynamic; fermentation is with native yeast, malo