Philippe Gilbert, Sauvignon Blanc, Menetou-Salon, Loire Valley, France 2023

Philippe Gilbert’s stellar Menetou-Salon Blanc is unfailingly mineral-driven, yet without the straitjacketed citrusy rigidity more conventionally and commercially minded Loire Sauvignon Blanc frequently displays. A sense of lusciousness, distinct from viscosity, provides a texturally attractive counterpoint to the rapier-like acidity, and nods ever so glancingly to its upstream Chenin-Blanc-based cousins, yet this is unmistakably Kimmeridgian-grown Sauvignon Blanc through and through. Fermentation occurs spontaneously, and aging takes place on the fine lees in stainless steel for one year, with total sulfur hovering at a modest 60 milligrams per liter.