'Les Lignis' Reuilly 2024

Valéry Renaudat has the steady, mild-mannered bearing of a third-generation Loire Valley torchbearer, but looks can be deceiving—he's stubborn and independent, with a temperament perfectly suited for winemaking. Born in Berry, he grew up among the vines of the Reuilly appellation, studied wine in Burgundy, and gained experience in the United States before returning to refine his craft in Bordeaux and Burgundy. In the late 1990s, he came home to the Loire and struck out on his own.

Though long overshadowed by neighbors like Sancerre and Pouilly Fumé, Reuilly has a compelling geological legacy. Repeated Jurassic-era sea incursions layered its hillsides with marine sediments—limestone, clay, gravel, sand, flint, and calcareous rock—still visible today. Valéry steadily expanded his holdings there and a few kilometers east in Quincy, where he became one of the first 21st-century vintners to help revive that tiny appellation. The domaine now encompasses 23 hectares of Sauvignon Blanc and Pinot Noir, vinified in a state-of-the-art thermoregulated cellar completed in 2012.