Wasabi, out of all things, is the flavour benchmark that Master Sommelier Emily Wines gets out of Savennières. As if “earthy” and “mineral” weren’t strange enough to describe to people, we arrive at a wine that’s so weird – yet so classic – that it’s bound to split people in the middle like the burning tire and ash-scented South African Pinotage. Savennières is an appellation from the Loire Valley in France that produces dry, concentrated, and fundamentally non-fruity wines from Chenin Blanc, and Baumard makes exceptional and superlative examples described by Jancis Robinson as “a wine for intellectuals, not neophytes.” That’s the most shade I’ve ever seen anyone throw from within an encyclopedia.
It’s one of those wines that’s hard to put into words: so much, that it almost sounds disgusting on paper, but experiencing the wine – without sounding too ridiculous about it – really is sort of otherworldly.… read more
[Tasted during 
