Tasting notes:

In 1851, Étienne Bouvet, with his wife Celestine Ladubay, bought 8km of chalk cellars in Saint-Hilaire-Saint Florent in the centre of the Loire growing region to produce wines from, mostly, Chenin Blanc. The venture flourished. Now part of the Taittinger-Monmousseau group, this wine continues to sparkle. Pale lemon-green in colour with persistent streams of tiny bubbles, the wine is brut in style (8g/l residual sugar) and shows lemon custard, apricot and orange zest, with gentle toast and cream pointing to a little use of oak. Mid-weight, the palate flavours are balanced by very crisp acidity and brittle mousse texture. Well-defined and with good length, the wine is gastronomic and would be a perfect pairing for Jarlsberg cheese soufflé with tarragon cream sauce. (Patricia Stefanowicz MW)