2022 Clotilde Legrand "L'Ecart" Saumur Blanc

Name: 2022 Clotilde Legrand "L'Ecart" Saumur Blanc
SKU: 1996711
Price: 24.99 USD
Availability: InStock
Rating: 93 (2 reviews)

93JG

$24.99

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John Gilman

Reviewed July 2025

The 2022 Saumur Blanc "À l’Ecart" from Clotilde Legrand is a superb young bottle of chenin blanc. The wine is already starting to show a bit of that chalk dustiness of young chenin and is best, if drunk now, to be given twenty to thirty minutes in decanter to blossom. Once it opens up, it delivers a superbly complex bouquet of apple, quince, a beautiful base of soil tones, a touch of orange peel, lanolin, dried flowers and a hint of incipient beeswax in the upper register. On the palate the wine is crisp, full-bodied, focused and soil-driven in personality, with a great core of fruit, a fine spine of acidity, excellent backend grip and lovely balance on the long and complex finish. I suspect that this will go through a period of hibernation a few years down the road, like a top flight Vouvray Sec, but for the moment it is drinking very well indeed with a bit of aeration. It will be long-lived.

Staff Reviews

Keith Mabry

K&L Buyer

Review Date: 06/2026

Some of the finest dry Chenins in France are coming out of Saumur. The region's limestone-rich soils produce wines with remarkable tension, minerality, and structure—wines that, when handled well, can develop and evolve in a fashion reminiscent of great white Burgundy. Legrand's L'Écart is a perfect example. A lightly reductive style lends subtle nutty and smoky nuances that frame generous flavors of apple, quince, and citrus. Beneath the fruit lies a firm mineral backbone that keeps the wine focused and energetic from start to finish. Saumur remains one of my favorite sources for Burgundy-adjacent flavors and complexity, delivering a similar sense of place and age-worthy character at a fraction of the price.

Notes

The Legrand family has been crafting wine in Saumur since the 17th century and was among the pioneering producers of Saumur-Champigny. Today, Clotilde Legrand carries on the family's legacy, combining traditional winemaking with a deep respect for terroir and vintage expression. The estate's Cabernet Franc and Chenin Blanc vineyards, many planted on prized limestone and chalk soils and averaging 45 years of age, produce wines of remarkable freshness, structure, and longevity. Long aging in the family's historic tuffeau limestone cellars - where cool, constant temperatures provide ideal maturation conditions - helps shape wines that are equally enjoyable in their youth and capable of graceful development in the cellar. The estate's sole white wine, "L'Ecart," is produced from 100% Chenin Blanc grown on a small parcel and harvested entirely by hand. Fermented without added sulfur and aged on its fine lees in a combination of concrete egg and seasoned oak barrels, the wine balances texture and complexity with precision and freshness. Aromas of citrus and tropical fruit are underscored by the tension, minerality, and elegant structure that make Saumur one of the Loire Valley's most compelling sources for dry Chenin Blanc.

Details

Origin	Loire, France
Type/Varietal	Chenin Blanc
Alcohol Content	13%
SKU	1996711